Gloved human-machine interface

ABSTRACT

Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a system, machine, device, manufacture, circuit, composition of matter, and/or user interface adapted for and/or resulting from, and/or a method and/or machine-readable medium comprising machine-implementable instructions for, activities that can comprise and/or relate to: tracking movement of a gloved hand of a human; interpreting a gloved finger movement of the human; and/or in response to interpreting the gloved finger movement, providing feedback to the human.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application61/492,886, filed 3 Jun. 2011.

STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENTAL SUPPORT

This invention was made with Government support under Contract No.NNX10CC92P1 awarded by the NASA Glenn Research Center. The Governmenthas certain rights in the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A wide variety of potential, feasible, and/or useful embodiments will bemore readily understood through the herein-provided, non-limiting,non-exhaustive description of certain exemplary embodiments, withreference to the accompanying exemplary drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary human-machine interfaceconstructed for use with both right and left hands;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the interior of the exemplary righthand glove of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary relative placement of the electroniccomponents of the exemplary right hand glove of FIG. 1 with respect tothe inner glove;

FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary tactile actuation assembly;

FIG. 6 shows an exploded view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a top view of an exemplary tactile actuation assembly;

FIG. 8 shows a section view of an exemplary tactile actuation assemblytaken at section B-B of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows a section view taken at section “A-A” of FIG. 2, andillustrates exemplary vibrational motion in an exemplary tactileactuation assembly and an exemplary inner glove;

FIG. 10 shows a diagram of electronic components in an exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 11 is a software flow chart illustrating an exemplary human-machineinterface.

FIG. 12 shows the mapping between fingers and keys on a keyboard for the“home” hand position in an exemplary human-machine interface.

FIG. 13 illustrates use of an exemplary embodiment to type the phrase“Hello!” using a combination of hand motion and the key strike fingergestures.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an exemplary human-machine interfaceconstructed for use with a single hand.

FIG. 15 shows a perspective view of the interior of an exemplaryembodiment comprising a single flexion sensor and a single lightemitting diode.

FIG. 16 shows an exemplary embodiment of a tactile actuation assembly inwhich a vibrational motor can move within an enclosing tactile adapter;

FIG. 17 shows an exploded view of FIG. 16, illustrating an exemplaryrelative placement of flexible gaskets and a vibrational motor within anexemplary tactile adapter;

FIG. 18 shows a top view of an exemplary tactile actuation assembly;

FIG. 19 shows a section view taken at section C-C of FIG. 12 in which avibrational motor can move within an enclosing tactile adapter;

FIG. 20 shows a section view taken at section A-A of FIG. 2 for theexemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 16, and illustrates exemplaryvibrational motion in an exemplary vibrational motor and an exemplaryinner glove;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a method; and

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an informationdevice.

DRAWINGS Reference Numerals

-   -   11 light emitting diode    -   12 outer glove    -   13 camera    -   14 portable electronics    -   15 tactile actuation assembly    -   16 wiring harness    -   17 flexible cable    -   18 camera cable    -   19 external connector    -   20 flexion sensor    -   21 inner glove    -   23 computing system    -   24 microprocessor    -   25 vibrational motor    -   26 tactile adapter    -   27 flexible gasket    -   28 human finger    -   29 serial communications circuit    -   30 electrical power subsystem    -   31 programming connection    -   32 flexion sensor analog circuit    -   33 light emitting diode control circuit    -   34 vibrational motor control circuit    -   35 status indicators    -   36 hand position input    -   37 hand position tracking process    -   38 hand position data    -   39 system mode    -   40 mouse position data processing    -   41 mouse motion event data    -   42 graphical display    -   43 finger movement input    -   44 finger position tracking process    -   45 finger position data    -   46 mouse gesture recognition process    -   47 mouse button event data    -   48 tactile feedback processing    -   49 tactile feedback display    -   50 keyboard position data processing    -   51 finger to key mapping data    -   52 keyboard gesture recognition process    -   53 finger press data    -   54 keyboard event processing    -   55 key press event data    -   56 character display

DESCRIPTION

Certain exemplary embodiments can relate to human-machine interaction.More particularly, certain exemplary embodiments can relate tohuman-machine interaction for users wearing gloves on their hands fornearly any purpose. Example gloves can include environmental protectivegloves such as those worn by astronauts, firefighters, deep-sea divers,bomb-disposal units, and/or hazardous material handling crew members.Other example gloves can include gloves worn to prevent contaminationsuch as in semiconductor manufacturing, space hardware integration,and/or biological material handling. Typical gloves often can be bulkyand/or can impede normal hand and/or finger motion, making it difficultor impossible to use a standard keyboard, mouse, and/or otherhuman-machine interfaces.

In certain exemplary embodiments, a gloved human-machine interface cancomprise protective outer gloves, inner gloves, vibrotactile actuators,a motion tracking camera, light emitting diodes, flexion sensors,portable electronics, data/power connections, a harness, and/or acomputing system. Certain exemplary embodiments can allow a person tointeract with a computer or other information device while wearingprotective gloves, to enter numerical and/or textual data, to interactwith a graphical user interface, to spatially designate points on avisual display (for navigation and/or annotation), and/or to generatetactile alerts and/or warnings. Certain exemplary allow a person to useprotective gloves to replicate the functionality of a standard desktopmouse and/or keyboard.

Certain exemplary embodiments can replicate the familiar capabilities ofstandard desktop human interface devices and/or input devices (e.g.,computer mouse and/or keyboard) using the protective gloves on anastronaut's hands as surrogates. Astronauts wearing space suits duringextra-vehicular activity (EVA) currently have extremely limited accessto mobile communications and computing. Certain exemplary embodimentscan solve this problem by enabling the gloves on the crewmembers handsto be used as input devices. Certain exemplary embodiments can solve asimilar problem for intra-vehicular activity (IVA), permittingcrewmembers wearing protective gloves to access on-board data and/orcommunications systems. The ability to use the gloves forpoint-and-click (mouse-like) interactions and/or for text and/ornumerical data entry (keyboard-like) interactions can enable a broadrange of applications, including but not limited to: interaction withprocedures or checklists, text communications, documentbrowsing/editing, image annotation, cataloging of geological samples,navigation, voice and/or data communications, on-board systems controland/or monitoring, and/or robotic control.

Certain exemplary embodiments can permit protective gloves to be used ashuman-machine interface devices, allowing an operator in anenvironmental protection suit to perform keyboard and/or mouseinteractions. Certain exemplary embodiments can use synergy betweenmotion tracking, gesture recognition, and/or tactile feedback to createan intuitive human-machine interface that can emulate familiar desktopinput devices.

Tactile feedback can be enabled by a unique concept that can use thepressurized gloves themselves as a transport mechanism for carryingtactile vibrations from motors to human fingertips.

Certain exemplary embodiments can combine any of three elements torecreate the functionality of a standard desktop computing mouse and/orkeyboard using the gloves on a suited operator's hands: motion tracking,finger gesture recognition, and/or tactile feedback.

Certain exemplary embodiments can operate in two modes: MOUSE andKEYBOARD. In MOUSE mode, certain exemplary embodiments can emulate thefunctionality of a computer mouse. Hand motion, through the motiontracking element, can permit left or right hand position to drive themovement of a cursor on a visual display in the same manner as acomputer mouse. Finger tapping motions from one or more fingers can berecognized by the finger gesture recognition element and/or translatedinto mouse click events. Tactile feedback in one or more fingers canprovide the physical sensation of button clicks, the edges of windows,and/or other graphical user interface (GUI) interactions. In addition togeneral GUI interactions, MOUSE mode can permit text and/or data entryusing an on-screen virtual keyboard through a “hunt-and-peck” approachusing cursor movement and/or mouse clicks to tap keys.

In KEYBOARD mode, certain exemplary embodiments can emulate thefunctionality of a standard QWERTY keyboard (or any other computerkeyboard and/or numeric keypad). Hand motion, through the motiontracking element, can control the mapping from the fingers on rightand/or left hands to keys on a virtual keyboard. When KEYBOARD mode isinitialized, the fingers on the left hand can map (from pinky to index)to “a,” “s,” “d,” “f” and/or the fingers on the right hand can map to“j,” “k,” “l,” “;”. Through the motion tracking element, translation ofhand position can change the mapping to mimic the change of fingerposition on a physical keyboard. A forward motion with the left hand canchange the mapping so that the index finger rests on the “r” key. Fingertapping motions with any finger can generate a keyboard stroke of theappropriate key. Tactile feedback can provide the physical sensation ofbutton clicks and/or a physical “bump” feel to the transition betweenhand positions on the keyboard.

In certain exemplary embodiments, hand motion tracking can be used tomap hand position to a single key on a virtual keyboard. In this form, afinger tap from any finger on that hand can result in that key beingregistered. Thus a glove with only a single flexion sensor and singletactile assembly can be used in KEYBOARD mode.

The constraints of a protective suit can make conventional modes ofhuman-machine interaction difficult. In mobile environments, standardI/O approaches such as a physical keyboard, mouse, and large liquidcrystal displays (LCDs) can be unavailable. While adaptations of smallerLCDs and keyboards used in state-of-the-art Personal Digital Assistants(PDAs) and smart phones are possible, they have not proven to bepractical when a human is wearing protective gloves. Restrictionsimposed by the space suit glove, or other bulky gloves, make interactingwith a small keyboard, either a physical keypad or virtual (touchscreen), impractical.

Introducing tactility into a data entry system can increase crewmemberperformance and/or reduce mental workload. Certain information displayscan overly rely on visual rendering, taxing cognitive resources alreadyheavily burdened by the operational environment. The resultinginformation overload can result in poor multi-tasking efficiency, poortask performance, and/or increased frequency of errors. Through thesynergistic combination of motion tracking, finger gesture recognition,and/or tactile feedback, certain exemplary embodiments can enable thekind of heads-up operation touch typists use to efficiently key text.Tactile features can introduce physical sensations to increasethroughput, reduce errors, and/or increase user satisfaction.

Certain exemplary embodiments can place all components requiringelectrical current outside of a pressure layer of a protective glove.Placement of all components requiring electrical current outside of thislayer of the glove can avoids penetrations through the pressure layerthat would require a leaky, or failure prone, seal. The pressure layercan comprise electrically insulating material. Placement ofcurrent-carrying components outside of this layer can prevent a shockhazard due to the introduction of current-carrying components into theglove. Furthermore, placement of components outside of the pressurelayer can prevent a fire hazard due to introduction of potentiallyspark-generating electronics into the highly oxygenated environmentwithin a protective suit.

Certain exemplary embodiments of a human-machine interface forglove-wearing humans can be constructed as shown in FIG. 1. Any numberof light-emitting diodes 11 can be integrated into the back of eitherand/or each of two outer gloves 12. A flexible connector 17 cancommunicatively couple internal glove electronics (shown in FIG. 2 anddescribed below) to an external connector 19, thereby providing acommunications linkage to a computing system 23. A camera 13 (such asthe FLEX:V100 available from NaturalPoint, Inc. of Corvallis, Oreg.) cancomprise a sensor, signal processing electronics, and/or optics housedwithin an enclosure. The camera 13 can be operatively attached to auser's torso (for example on the outside of a space suit), adjacent tothe user's head (for example next to the helmet of a space suit), or inany other location that provides visibility to the user's hands. Acamera cable 18 can communicatively couple the camera to an externalconnector 19, thereby providing a communications linkage to a computingsystem 23. The computing system 23 can encompass a processor, digitaldata input and/or output, and/or a power supply. Computing system 23 inturn can be connected to, or encompassed within, additional computing,communications, and/or other user interface elements, such as a heads-upvisual display, that are specific to particular uses of certainexemplary embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the interior of the exemplary righthand glove of FIG. 1. An inner glove 21, which can be enclosed by theouter glove 12, can be fabricated from multiple layers which can includea pressure layer comprising a substantially gas-impermeable material(such as urethane or latex) and/or a layer of restraint material (suchas synthetic polyester fabric). Right and left hand gloves can beconstructed in a like manner. Tactile actuation assemblies 15, each ofwhich can comprise a vibrational motor and/or a tactile adapter (shownin FIG. 5 and described below), can be operatively attached to the innerglove 21 aligned with any and/or each finger, and/or can be held inposition by stitching, sandwiched layers of glove fabric, adhesive,and/or by any other means. The tactile actuation assemblies 15 canconnect to a wiring harness 16. The wiring harness 16 can connect toleads on portable electronics 14 to the tactile actuation assemblies 15,light-emitting diodes 11, and/or flexion sensors 20. The wiring harness16 can be fabricated from insulated wire and/or flexible circuitmaterial and/or can be routed within the fabric of the outer glove 12.Flexion sensors 20 can be placed within the outer glove 12 aligned withany and/or each finger, and/or can be held in position by a fabricsleeve, sandwiched layers of glove fabric, and/or flexible tubing. Theflexion sensors 20 can comprise a carbon/polymer based ink (availablefrom Flexpoint Sensor Systems of Draper, Utah) and/or similar materialthat can vary in resistance when flexed (and thus can serve as a fingerbend sensor). Light-emitting diodes 11 (for example 850 nmhigh-efficiency, wide angle LEDs) can be integrated into the outer glove12 such that they protrude through the outer glove, or are provided witha substantially transparent window or cover, in a manner that makes themvisible to the camera. The portable electronics 14 comprises amicroprocessor, signal conditioning/amplification, analog-to-digitalconversion, pulse-width modulation, analog logic circuitry, digitalinput/output, energy storage, power conditioning, and/or tactor drivercircuitry integrated on a printed circuit board. A flexible cable 17 cancommunicatively connect the portable electronics to a glove connector19, thereby providing a communications and/or power linkage to thecomputing system 23 shown in FIG. 1. The flexible cable 17 can thuscarry electrical power, commands to tactile actuators, mode changecommands, light emitting diode flashing and/or dimming commands, and/orany other information or commands from the computing system 23 toportable electronics 14, and/or carry event messages, diagnosticmessages, sensor data messages, and/or any other information from theportable electronics 14 to the computing system 23. FIG. 2 alsoidentifies the sectional view “A-A” cut plane for FIG. 9.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the exemplary embodiment shown inFIG. 2, illustrating the inner glove 21 and placement of glovecomponents with the outer glove, flexible cable, and wiring harnessomitted.

FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of the exemplary embodiments shown in FIG.3, and showing placement of exemplary glove components with the outerglove, flexible cable, and wiring harness omitted.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a tactileactuation assembly 15, which can comprise a vibrational motor 25 and/ora tactile adapter 26. The tactile adapter 26 can be fabricated fromplastic, rubber, metal, or any other suitable material. The vibrationalmotors 25 can be linear resonant actuators (available from PrecisionMicrodrives Limited, London, UK), eccentric rotating mass motors(available from Precision Microdrives Limited, London, UK), plunger-typelinear electro-magnetic motors (available from Engineering AcousticsInc. of Casselberry, Fla.), piezoelectric actuators, electro-activepolymer actuators, voice-coil actuators, or any other motor type thatgenerates sufficient vibrational energy in a suitably small form factor.The tactile adapter 26 can have any number, or no, holes to permit theadapter to be operatively attached to the inner glove through stitching.

FIG. 6 shows an exploded view of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows a top view of an exemplary tactile actuation assembly 15.

FIG. 8 shows a section view taken at section B-B of FIG. 7 of anexemplary tactile actuation assembly 15. In certain exemplaryembodiments, a linear resonant actuator type vibrational motor 25 can beheld rigidly within a tactile adapter 26. In certain exemplaryembodiments, the tactile adapter 26 can be fabricated such that avibrational motor 25 is in direct contact with the inner glove to whichthe adapter can be operatively attached by stitching, sandwiched layersof glove fabric, adhesive, and/or by any other means.

FIG. 9 shows a section view taken at section “A-A” of FIG. 2. In certainexemplary embodiments, such as a space suit, the gas within the pressurelayer of the inner glove 21 can be maintained at a positive pressuredifferential with respect to the atmospheric pressure of the outsideenvironment. In such cases, the inner glove layers can become stiffened,similar to the surface of an inflated balloon. As a result, the innerglove material can become an efficient carrier of mechanical vibrations.The tactile adapter 26 can be operatively attached to the fabric of theinner glove 21 such that vibrations in the tactile adapter result inoscillatory motion in the inner glove 21. An amplitude-modulated drivevoltage can be applied to the motor from the portable electronics 14through the wiring harness 16. The resulting oscillatory forces in thevibrational motor 25 can be applied through the tactile adapter 26 tothe material of the inner glove 21, causing physical vibrations(oscillatory displacements). The pressure stiffened inner glove materialcan carry these vibrations to the human finger 28 inside of the glove,creating a perceptible tactile sensation.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of exemplary major components of an exemplaryembodiment of the portable electronics 14 and its connection, throughthe wiring harness 16, to the vibrational motors 25, the light emittingdiodes 11, and the flexion sensors 20. The exemplary embodiment of theportable electronics can comprise a microprocessor 24, a serialcommunications circuit 29, an electrical power subsystem 30, aprogramming connection 31, a flexion sensor analog circuit 32, a lightemitting diode control circuit 33, a vibrational motor control circuit34, and/or status indicators 35.

An exemplary embodiment of a vibrational motor control circuit 34 canreceive 3 volt regulated power and/or 5 volt unregulated power from theelectrical power subsystem 30, potentially along with a pulse widthmodulated (PWM) signal, a square wave (SQW) clock signal, and/or fivedigital tactor enable (TEN) signals from the microprocessor 24. The PWMand/or SQW signals can be passed through an exclusive OR logic gate toprovide a modified PWM that has a duty cycle that changes at thefrequency of the SQW clock. The modified PWM signal can be provided toeach of five vibrational motor driver chips (for example, the DRV8601from Texas Instruments, Dallas, Tex.) potentially along with the fivetactor enable (TEN) signals, which can enable the microprocessor 24 toactivate any number or all of the vibrational motors 25. Wires withinthe wiring harness 16 can provide positive and/or negative leadsconnecting the vibrational motor control circuit 34 to the vibrationalmotors 25.

An exemplary embodiment of a light emitting diode control circuit 33 canreceive 3 volt regulated power and/or 5 volt unregulated power from theelectrical power subsystem 30, potentially along with a pulse widthmodulated (PWM) signal and/or two enable signals (EN1, EN2) from themicroprocessor 24. The enable signals and/or the PWM signal can provideon/off and/or continuous dimming of the light emitting diodes 11 throughan integrated circuit light emitting diode driver (for example, theLTC3453EUF from Linear Technology, Milpitas, Calif.). Six wires withinthe wiring harness 16 can provide positive and/or negative leadsconnecting the light emitting diode control circuit 33 to the lightemitting diodes 11.

An exemplary embodiment of a flexion sensor analog circuit 32 canreceive 3 volt regulated power from the electrical power subsystem 30,and/or a clock (SCL) signal and/or a data (SDA) signal from themicroprocessor 24. The flexion sensor analog circuit 32 can contain fiveamplification circuits, each of which can comprise an operationalamplifier, a digital potentiometer (for example, the MAX5479 from MaximIncorporated, Sunnyvale, Calif.), resistors, and/or capacitors. Theamplification circuits can generate a voltage that can vary when fingermotion causes bending, and thus a change of resistance, in the flexionsensors 20. The SCL and/or SDA signals from an inter-integrated circuit(I2C) interface channel on the microprocessor 24 can adjust theresistance provided by each of the five digital potentiometers, and thusregulate the calibration (bias) voltage on the output of eachamplification circuit. An analog-to-digital converter within themicroprocessor 24 can receive the analog output voltage of eachamplification circuit (F1A, F2A, F3A, F4A, and/or F5A). Ten wires withinthe wiring harness 16 can provide positive and/or negative leadsconnecting the flexion sensor analog circuit 32 to the flexion sensors20.

An exemplary embodiment of an electrical power subsystem 30 can receive5 volt power (VUSB) from a serial communications circuit 29 and/or anenable (EN) signal from the microprocessor 24. A super-capacitor (forexample, the HS203F from Tecate Group, San Diego, Calif.) can provideelectrical energy storage to permit the vibrational motor controlcircuit 34 to temporarily consume more than the steady state poweravailable from VUSB, thus permitting a wider range of tactile effects.The super-capacitor can be controlled by a super-capacitor chargerintegrated circuit (for example, the LTC4425 from Linear Technology,Milpitas, Calif.), which can receive external power from VUSB and/or itsenable (EN) signal from the microprocessor 24. The electrical powersubsystem 30 can include a low-dropout regulator (for example, theTLV70033DCKT from Texas Instruments, Dallas, Tex.) to provide stable 3volt power to other components in the portable electronics 14.

An exemplary embodiment of a serial communications circuit 29 canreceive 5 volt power (VBUS), two data lines (D+, D−), a groundconnection (GND), and/or a cable shield connection (SH) from theflexible cable 17. The communications circuit 29 can include signalconditioning and/or electrostatic discharge protection. Thecommunications circuit 29 can provide 5 volt power (VUSB) to theelectrical power subsystem 30 and/or two serial communications lines(DP, DN), and/or a disconnect detection line (DCN) to the microprocessor24.

An exemplary embodiment of a programming connection 31 can comprise aconnector that provides a programming and/or debugging interface to themicroprocessor 24 through an Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) port

An exemplary embodiment of status indicators 35 can comprise seven, orany number, of light emitting diodes that can receive digital output(G0, R0, R1, R2, R3, R4, and/or R5) from the microprocessor 24 toindicate the on/off power status of the board, the on/off status of eachof the five vibrational motors 25, and/or any other status or debugginginformation.

An exemplary embodiment of a microprocessor 24 (for example, theSTM32F103V8 from STMicroelectronics, Geneva, Switzerland) can include acentral processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), non-volatilememory, digital input and/or output, built-in timers, integratedanalog-to-digital conversion, serial communications, I2C communications,and/or a JTAG port for programming/debugging. Software uploaded tomicroprocessor 24 through the JTAG port of the programming connection 31can be stored in non-volatile memory and/or, on power-up of the portableelectronics 14, loaded into RAM and/or executed by the CPU.

Certain exemplary embodiments can provide mobile human-machine interfacefunctionality similar to that provided by a keyboard and/or mouse fordesktop computing. In operation, one can wear the gloves in a normalmanner. The camera 13 can be positioned such that its field of view canextend outwards to provide its internal sensor with visibility to thelight emitting diodes 11 on the back of the gloves. The flexible cable17 and/or computing system 23 can be integrated in a comfortable mannerwithin the fabric of an outer layer of clothing, held in place byfabric, stitching, hook-and-loop fastener, and/or by any other means,and/or, if applicable, integrated within other systems within aprotective suit.

FIG. 11 is a software flow chart illustrating an exemplaryprocessor-based human-machine interface process for exemplary protectivegloves that provide keyboard and/or mouse capability using motionsensing transducers of hand position, motion sensing transducers offinger movement, and/or tactile sensory output transducers. Thehuman-machine interface process can be driven by one or more handposition 36 and/or finger movement 43 inputs by a human operator and/orcan produce sensory feedback to the human operator in the form of atactile feedback display 49, a graphical display 42, and/or a characterdisplay 56. The flow can have one or a multitude of branchescorresponding to the system mode 39 which can take one or moreenumerated values including MOUSE and KEYBOARD.

The hand position tracking process 37 can observe hand position input 36through the position and/or motion of any and/or each light emittingdiodes 11 on the back of one or more outer gloves 12. The hand positiontracking process 37 can utilize the processor to calculate the pixellocation of each light emitting diode in a continuous stream of digitalimage frames generated by the camera 13 at a predetermined rate, whichcan be approximately 20 to approximately 120 frames per second, e.g.,approximately 100 frames per second. Via the hand position trackingprocess 37, the processor can use the light emitting diode pixellocations to calculate the position and/or orientation of the outerglove 12 with respect to the camera 13. Knowledge of the position and/ororientation of the camera 13 can be used by the processor to calculatehand position data 38 representing the position and/or orientation ofthe outer glove 12 with respect to the user's torso, helmet, and/or anyother object.

If the system mode 39 is MOUSE, hand position data 38 can be used bymouse position data processing 40 to determine cursor position, or achange in cursor position, on a two-dimensional graphical display 42. Incertain exemplary embodiments, a change in hand position from a previousposition can be used by a processor to calculate an incremental changein the pixel location of the cursor. The change in cursor pixel locationcan be encapsulated in mouse motion event data 41 that can be used byany application software and/or rendered through the graphical display42.

To convert hand position data to cursor position, the processor canimplement an algorithm such as that suggested by the following Java codesegment:

-   -   public void motionActionPerformed(HandMotionEvent event) {        -   // only respond if we're in MOUSE mode        -   if (systemMode==SystemMode.MOUSE) {        -   // implement differential mode mouse using (x, y)        -   // position from camera        -   final double xs=event.getX( );        -   final double ys=event.getY( );        -   int dx=(int) (_xGain*(xs−_xLast));        -   int dy=(int) (_yGain*(ys−_yLast));        -   // prevent large jumps when tracked object pops in/out of            view        -   final int dmax=300;        -   if (dx>dmax) {dx=0; dy=0;}            -   else if (dx<−dmax) {dx=0; dy=0;}            -   else if (dy>dmax) {dx=0; dy=0;}            -   else if (dy<−dmax) {dx=0; dy=0;}        -   // get current cursor location        -   final Point location=MouseInfo.getPointerInfo(            ).getLocation( );        -   // increment cursor location by (dx, dy)        -   mouseMove(location.x+dx, location.y+dy);        -   // save previous object (x, y) position        -   _xLast=xs;        -   _yLast=ys;        -   }    -   }

The finger position tracking process 44 can observe finger movementinput 43. Via the finger position tracking process 44, the processor canprovide digitized data from each flexion sensor analog circuit 32 to afirst order low pass filter to calculate finger position data 45 that issubstantially free of high frequency noise. This low pass filter can beimplemented with a cutoff frequency in the range of approximately 10 toapproximately 100 (e.g., approximately 50) cycles per second. The fingerposition data 45 can thus represent the position of any or all digitswith respect to one or both hands.

If the system mode 39 is MOUSE, finger position data 45 can be used bymouse gesture recognition process 46 to generate mouse button event data47. Mouse button event data 47 can include user interface events thatwould normally be generated by a standard computer mouse in desktopcomputing, including, but not limited to, MOUSE_CLICK,MOUSE_DOUBLE_CLICK, MOUSE_DOWN, MOUSE_UP, and/or WHEEL_SCROLL for any orall buttons including LEFT, RIGHT, and/or MIDDLE, etc. The computingsystem 23 can interpret these mouse button events as if they weregenerated by a standard computer mouse.

The recognition of a finger tapping motion in the mouse gesturerecognition process 46 can comprise: (1) estimation of individual fingerspeed as the change in finger position over a predetermined clockinterval on the processor which can be in a range between approximately0.1 and approximately 20 (e.g., approximately 1.0) milliseconds, (2)detection of a speed that exceeds a predetermined positive speedthreshold (rising edge), and (3) a subsequent detection of a speed lessthan a predetermined negative speed threshold (falling edge,corresponding to an arresting motion). During the interval betweendetection of the rising and falling edge of an individual finger, thegesture recognition process can be suspended for all other fingers onthe associated hand. This temporary suspension can prevent naturalfinger motion synergies (for example between the ring and pinky fingers)from generating erroneous events.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the mouse gesture recognition process46 can utilize the thumb and/or any other finger or combination offingers on either or both hands to drive LEFT mouse button events. Atapping motion of the digit(s) can generate a LEFT MOUSE_CLICK event.Two sequential tapping motions that occur for the same finger within apredetermined time interval, which can be between approximately 100 andapproximately 1000 (e.g., approximately 300) milliseconds, can generatea LEFT MOUSE_DOUBLE_CLICK event. A continuous flexion of the digit(s)can generate a LEFT MOUSE_DOWN event, and/or reversal of the continuousflexion of the digit(s) can generate a LEFT MOUSE_UP event.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the mouse gesture recognition process46 can utilize the index and/or any other finger or combination offingers on either or both hands to drive RIGHT mouse button events. Atapping motion of the digit(s) can generate a RIGHT MOUSE_CLICK event.Two sequential tapping motions that occur for the same finger within apredetermined time interval, which can be between approximately 100 andapproximately 1000 (e.g., approximately 300) milliseconds, can generatea RIGHT MOUSE_DOUBLE_CLICK event. A continuous flexion of the digit(s)can generate a RIGHT MOUSE_DOWN event, and/or reversal of the continuousflexion of the digit(s) can generate a RIGHT MOUSE_UP event.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the mouse gesture recognition process46 can utilize the middle and/or any other finger or combination offingers on either or both hands to drive MIDDLE mouse button events. Atapping motion of the digit(s) can generate a MIDDLE MOUSE_CLICK event.Two sequential tapping motions that occur for the same finger within apredetermined time interval, which can be between approximately 100 andapproximately 1000 (e.g., approximately 300) milliseconds, can generatea MIDDLE MOUSE_DOUBLE_CLICK event. A continuous flexion of the digit(s)can generate a MIDDLE MOUSE_DOWN event, and/or reversal of thecontinuous flexion of the digit(s) can generate a MIDDLE MOUSE_UP event.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the mouse gesture recognition process46 can utilize a simultaneous grasping (finger flexion) motion of thethumb and index finger or any other gesture involving any combination offingers on either or both hands to drive WHEEL_SCROLL events. In certainexemplary embodiments, right hand gestures can be interpreted as forward(positive) WHEEL_SCROLL events and/or left hand gestures as backward(negative) WHEEL_SCROLL events.

In certain exemplary embodiments, tactile feedback processing 48 cangenerate tactile sensory waveforms, corresponding to mouse button eventdata 47, which can be rendered through a tactile feedback display 49. Incertain exemplary embodiments, the tactile feedback display 49 cancomprise a microprocessor 24, a vibrational motor control circuit 34,and/or one or more vibrational motors 25. In certain exemplaryembodiments, tactile sensory waveforms can be applied to the finger orfingers associated with event generation. For example, for a LEFTMOUSE_CLICK event, tactile feedback processing 48 can generate awaveform (to a thumb aligned vibrational motor 25) consisting of twoapproximately 50 to approximately 300 (e.g., approximately 175)cycles-per-second square-wave pulses of approximately 5 to approximately50 (e.g., approximately 14) meters-per-second-squared amplitude, withapproximately 10 to approximately 50 (e.g., approximately 25)millisecond pulse duration and/or approximately 10 to approximately 50(e.g., approximately 25) millisecond inter-pulse delay. In a similarmanner, MOUSE_DOWN and/or MOUSE_UP events can result in singleapproximately 50 to approximately 300 (e.g., approximately 175)cycles-per-second square-wave pulses of approximately 10 toapproximately 50 (e.g., approximately 14) meters-per-second-squaredamplitude and/or approximately 10 to approximately 50 (e.g.,approximately 25) millisecond duration to the corresponding finger. ForMOUSE_DOUBLE_CLICK events, tactile feedback processing 48 can generate awaveform consisting of two MOUSE_CLICK tactile events, with anapproximately 20 to approximately 100 (e.g., approximately 50)millisecond delay between the two. For WHEEL_SCROLL events, tactilefeedback processing 48 can produce three approximately 50 toapproximately 300 (e.g., approximately 175) cycles-per-secondsquare-wave pulses in the thumb and/or index finger aligned motors ofapproximately 5 to approximately 50 (e.g., approximately 7)meters-per-second-squared amplitude, with approximately 20 toapproximately 80 (e.g., approximately 40) millisecond pulse durationand/or approximately 20 to approximately 80 (e.g., approximately 40)millisecond inter-pulse delay.

If the system mode 39 is KEYBOARD, finger position data 45 can be usedby keyboard gesture recognition process 52 to generate finger press data53. Keyboard event processing 54, can utilize the combination of fingerpress data 53 and the finger to key mapping 51, to generate key pressevents that can be used by any application software and/or rendered byone or more character displays 56 and/or graphical displays 42.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the keyboard gesture recognitionprocess 52 can utilize finger position data 45 to recognize motions byone or more fingers or combinations of fingers. In certain exemplaryembodiments, the keyboard gesture recognition process 52 can interpret atapping motion by an individual finger as a key strike by that finger,encapsulated in finger press data 53. The keyboard gesture recognitionprocess 52 can comprise: (1) estimation of individual finger speed asthe change in finger position over a predetermined clock interval on theprocessor which can be in a range between approximately 0.1 andapproximately 20 (e.g., approximately 1.0) milliseconds, (2) detectionof a speed that exceeds a predetermined positive speed threshold (risingedge), and (3) a subsequent detection of a speed less than apredetermined negative speed threshold (falling edge, corresponding toan arresting motion). During the interval between detection of therising and falling edge of an individual finger, the gesture recognitionprocess can be suspended for all other fingers on the associated hand.This temporary suspension can prevent natural finger motion synergies(for example between the ring and pinky fingers) from generatingerroneous key strikes.

If the system mode 39 is KEYBOARD, motion sensing transducers of handposition, motion sensing transducers of finger movement, and/or tactilesensory output transducers can be used to enable virtual touch typing bythe person wearing protective gloves. In certain exemplary embodiments,hand position data 38 can be used by keyboard position data processing50 to generate finger to key mapping data 51. Finger to key mapping data51 can associate each of one or more fingers on each hand with akeyboard character on a virtual keyboard. In certain exemplaryembodiments, keyboard position data processing 50 can emulate a QWERTYkeyboard. In certain exemplary embodiments, keyboard position dataprocessing 50 can use a grid arrangement (as shown in FIG. 12) to assignkeys to fingers based on the projection of hand position data 38 ontothe two-dimensional grid. When entering KEYBOARD mode, the current leftand/or right hand position can become “home” position. In this case(which is illustrated in FIG. 12) four fingers on either and/or eachhand can be mapped to keys in the center of the virtual board, with thethumbs on each hand mapped to the space bar. In this home position,consistent with a conventional keyboard, the four (non-thumb) fingers ofthe left hand can be mapped to the characters “a,” “s,” “d,” and/or “f”and/or the fingers on the right hand to “j,” “k,” “l,” and/or “;”. Fromthis home position, keyboard position data processing 50 can permit theuser to access other keys through short hand movements to other gridpositions. In certain exemplary embodiments, an approximately 3×4 gridcan be assigned to the left hand and/or an approximately 5×4 grid can beassigned to the right hand (as shown in FIG. 12) providing access to anentire QWERTY keyboard layout. FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary use ofthis method to type out the phrase “Hello!” using a combination of handmotion and the following key strike finger gesture sequence: (1) leftpinky, (2) right index, (3) left middle, (4) right ring, (5) right ring,(6) right ring, (7) right pinky, and/or (8) left pinky.

To convert hand position data 38 to finger to key mapping data 51, theprocessor can implement an algorithm such as that suggested by thefollowing Java code segment:

// ChordGenerator is a software object that maps hand position to afinger // to key mapping “Chord” public class ChordGenerator  extendsChordEventGenerator implements HandMotionListener {   // associate witha Hand   private Hand _hand;   // initialize hand position to center  private double _xLast = 0.5, _yLast = 0.5, _zLast = 0.5;   privatedouble _xState = 0.5, _yState = 0.5, _zState = 0.5;   // movement gains,similar to mouse gain   private double _xGain, _yGain, _zGain;   privateint _row = 1, _column = 1;   private double _hysteresis;   privateChordMapping _chordMapping;   // constructor   publicChordGenerator(Hand hand, ChordMapping chordMapping,    doublehysteresis, double xGain, double yGain, double    zGain) {       _hand =hand;       _hysteresis = hysteresis;       _chordMapping =chordMapping;       _xGain = xGain;       _yGain = yGain;       _zGain =zGain;    }   // Take action when a change in hand position is detected  public void motionActionPerformed(HandMotionEvent event) {    //return if the incoming event is associated with the    // wrong hand   if (!event.getHand( ).equals(_hand)) return;    // get the motiondata provided by the camera tracker    final double xs = event.getX( );   final double ys = event.getY( );    final double zs = event.getZ( );   // use differential position so no calibration is needed    finaldouble dx = xs − _xLast;    final double dy = ys − _yLast;    finaldouble dz = zs − _zLast;    _xState += _xGain*dx;    _yState +=_yGain*dy;    _zState += _zGain*dz;    // limit range of the grid   final double eps = le−6;    if (_xState < 0.0) _xState = 0.0;    if(_xState >= 1.0) _xState = 1.0 − eps;    if (_yState < 0.0) _yState =0.0;    if (_yState >= 1.0) _yState = 1.0 − eps;    if (_zState < 0.0)_zState = 0.0;    if (_zState >= 1.0) _zState = 1.0 − eps;    // keeptrack of previous state    _xLast = xs;    _yLast = ys;    _zLast = zs;   // keep track of previous row and column    final int oldRow = _row;   final int oldColumn = _column;    // Get grid row, column fromnormalized    // x, y hand position on a regular grid in range ([0,1],[0, 1])    final double yhat =      (_yState*chordMapping.getNumber0fRows( )) + 1;    final double xhat =     (_xState* chordMapping.getNumberOfColumns( )) + 1;    final doubleytest = yhat − _row;    // add hysteresis to limit bouncing on gridedges    if ( (ytest <-( _hysteresis)) || (ytest > 1+(_hysteresis)) ) {      _row = (int)yhat;    }    final double xtest = xhat − _column;   if ( (xtest <-(_hysteresis)) || (xtest > 1+(_hysteresis)) ) {      _column = (int)xhat;    }    if ( (_row != oldRow) || ( column !=oldColumn) ) {     // inform users of finger-to-key mapping data     //for new row, column     fireEvent(_chordMapping.getChord(_row,_column));     // provide tactile feedback on new hand position    fireEvent(TactileEvent.getChordEvent(this.getHand( )));    }   } }// Chord is a software object that defines a mapping between fingers ona // hand and keys on a virtual keyboard public class Chord {   privateKey[ ] _keys;   private Hand _hand = null;   // constructor   publicChord(Key thumb, Key index,       Key middle, Key ring, Key pinky) {   _keys = new Key[5];    _keys[0] = thumb;    _keys[1] = index;   _keys[2] = middle;    _keys[3] = ring;    _keys[4] = pinky;   } } //Key is a software object that encapsulates data associated with a key on// a virtual keyboard public enum Key {   TILDE(‘{grave over ( )}’,‘~’),ONE(‘1’,‘!’), TWO(‘2’,‘@’), THREE(‘3’,‘#’),   FOUR(‘4’,‘$’),FIVE(‘5’,‘%’), TAB(‘\t’,‘\t’,“Tab”), Q(‘q’,‘Q’),   W(‘w’,‘W’),E(‘e’,‘E’), R(‘r’,‘R’), T(‘t’,‘T’), CAPS(‘\0’,‘\0’,“Caps”),  A(‘a’,‘A’), S(‘s’,‘S’), D(‘d’,‘D’), F(‘f,‘F’), G(‘g’,‘G’), Z(‘z’,‘Z’),  X(‘x’,‘X’), C(‘c’,‘C’), V(‘v’,‘V’), B(‘b’,‘B’), SIX(‘6’,‘{circumflexover ( )}’),   SEVEN(‘7’,‘&’), EIGHT(‘8’,‘*’), NINE(‘9’,‘(’),ZERO(‘0’,‘)’),   DASH(‘-’,‘_’), EQUALS(‘= ’,‘+’),BACKSPACE(‘\b’,‘\b’,“Back”),   Y(‘y’,‘Y’), U(‘u’,‘U’), I(‘i’,‘I’),o(‘o’,‘o’), P(‘p’,‘P’),   LEFTBRACE(‘[’,‘{’), RIGHTBRACE(‘]’,‘}’),BACKSLASH(‘\\’,‘|’),   H(‘h’,‘H’), J(‘j’,‘J’), K(‘k’,‘K’), L(‘l’,‘L’),COLIN(‘;’,‘:’),   PAREN(‘\′’,‘\″’), ENTER(‘\r’,‘\r’,“Enter”),  N(‘n’,‘N’), M(‘m’,‘M’), COMMA(‘,’,‘<’), PERIOD(‘.’,‘>’),  FORWARDSLASH(‘/’,‘?’), LEFTSHIFT(‘\0’,‘\0’,“Shift”),  RIGHTSHIFT(‘\0’,‘\0’,“Shift”), SPACE(‘ ’,‘ ’, “ ”), NULL(‘\0’,‘\0’);  private char _lower; // key's normal (lowercase) char   private char_upper; // key's shift char   private String _text; // key's displaytext   // private constructor   Key(char lower, char upper, String text){    _lower = lower;    _upper = upper;    _text = text;   } //LeftHandChordMapping is a software object that translates left hand //position on a Chord grid to the mapping between fingers and keys publicclass LeftHandChordMapping extends ChordMapping {   // define size ofgrid   private final static int nRows = 4;   private final static intnColumns = 3;   // public constructor   public LeftHandChordMapping( ) {   super(nRows, nColumns);    // populate the grid    this.setChord(1,1,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.TILDE));    this.setChord(1,2, new    Chord(Key.FOUR,Key.THREE,Key.TWO,Key.ONE));    this.setChord(1,3,    Chord.getIndexFingerOnlyChord(Key.FIVE));    this.setChord(2,1,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.TAB));    this.setChord(2,2, new    Chord(Key.R,Key.E,Key.W,Key.Q));    this.setChord(2,3,    Chord.getIndexFingerOnlyChord(Key.T));    this.setChord(3,1,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.CAPS));    this.setChord(3,2, new    Chord(Key.F,Key.D,Key.S,Key.A));    this.setChord(3,3,    Chord.getIndexFingerOnlyChord(Key.G));    this.setChord(4,1,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.LEFTSHIFT));    this.setChord(4,2,new     Chord(Key.V,Key.C,Key.X,Key.Z));    this.setChord(4,3,    Chord.getIndexFingerOnlyChord(Key.B));    // the mapping knows whichhand it is associated with    this.setHand(Hand.LEFT);   } }//RightHandChordMapping is a software object that translates right hand// position on a Chord grid to the mapping between fingers and keyspublic class RightHandChordMapping extends ChordMapping {   // definesize of grid   private final static int nRows = 4;   private finalstatic int nColumns = 5;   // public constructor   publicRightHandChordMapping( ) {    super(nRows, nColumns);    // populate thegrid    this.setChord(1,1,     Chord.getIndexFingerOnlyChord(Key.SIX));   this.setChord(1,2, new    Chord(Key.SEVEN,Key.EIGHT,Key.NINE,Key.ZER0));    this.setChord(1,3,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.DASH));    this.setChord(1,4,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.EQUALS));    this.setChord(1,5,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.BACKSPACE));    this.setChord(2,1,    Chord.getIndexFingerOnlyChord(Key.Y));    this.setChord(2,2, newChord(Key.U,Key.I,Key.0,Key.P));    this.setChord(2,3,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.LEFTBRACE));    this.setChord(2,4,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.RIGHTBRACE));   this.setChord(2,5,     Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.BACKSLASH));   this.setChord(3,1,     Chord.getIndexFingerOnlyChord(Key.H));   this.setChord(3,2, new     Chord(Key.J,Key.K,Key.L,Key.COLIN));   this.setChord(3,3,     Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.PAREN));   this.setChord(3,4,     Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.ENTER));   this.setChord(3,5,     Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.ENTER));   this.setChord(4,1,     Chord.getIndexFingerOnlyChord(Key.N));   this.setChord(4,2, new     Chord(Key.M,Key.COMMA,Key.PERIOD,      Key.FORWARDSLASH));    this.setChord(4,3,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.RIGHTSHIFT));   this.setChord(4,4,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.RIGHTSHIFT));   this.setChord(4,5,    Chord.getPinkyFingerOnlyChord(Key.RIGHTSHIFT));    // the mappingknows which hand it is associated with    this. setHand(Hand.RIGHT);   }}

To convert finger to key mapping data 51 and finger press data 53 to keypress event data 55, the processor can implement an algorithm such asthat suggested by the following Java code segment:

// KeyboardRobot is a software class that listens for finger pressevents // and chord events, when a finger press event occurs, itgenerates the // appropriate key press event according to the currentfinger to key // mapping defined by hand position public classKeyboardRobot extends KeyboardEventGenerator  implementsGloveEventListener, ChordEventListener{  // keep track of the Chords forboth hands  private Chord _currentLeftHandChord = null;  private Chord_currentRightHandChord = null;  // keep track of the shift state ofkeyboard  private boolean _isShifted = false;  // when a finger gestureis recognized, generate a keyboard response  public voidgloveActionPerformed(GloveEvent event) {    // handle left hand events   if (event.getHand( ) == geco interface.Hand.LEFT) {     // if keyevent is a Shift, change shift state of keyboard      if((_currentLeftHandChord.getKey(event.getFinger( ))        ==Key.LEFTSHIFT) ||        (_currentLeftHandChord.getKey(event.getFinger())        == Key.RIGHTSHIFT)) {        _isShifted = !_isShifted;      }     // generate the left hand key press event      fireEvent(newKeyboardEvent(        _currentLeftHandChord.getKey(event.getFinger( )),        _isShifted));    // handle right hand events    }else if(event.getHand( ) == Hand.RIGHT) {     // if key event is a Shift,change shift state of keyboard      if((_currentRightHandChord.getKey(event.getFinger( ))        ==Key.LEFTSHIFT) ||       (_currentRightHandChord.getKey(event.getFinger())        == Key.RIGHTSHIFT)) {        _isShifted = !_isShifted;      }     // generate the right hand key press event      fireEvent(newKeyboardEvent(        _currentRightHandChord.getKey(event.getFinger( )),        _isShifted));    }   }   // when a new chord event occurs,change the chording state   //   of the keyboard   public voidchordActionPerformed(Chord chord) {        if (chord.getHand( ) ==Hand.LEFT) {         _currentLeftHandChord = chord;        }else {        _currentRightHandChord = chord;        }   } }

The flow chart in FIG. 11 illustrates that in certain exemplaryembodiments, tactile feedback processing 48 can generate tactile sensorywaveforms, rendered through a tactile feedback display 49, to inform theuser of a new hand position on the virtual keyboard. When a change inhand position 36 results in new finger to key mapping data 51, a tactilesensory waveform (rendered through a tactile feedback display 49) cansignal the new mapping. In certain exemplary embodiments, the tactilesensory waveform can consist of two approximately 50 to approximately300 (e.g., approximately 175) cycles-per-second square-wave pulses ofapproximately 5 to approximately 50 (e.g., approximately 7)meters-per-second-squared amplitude applied to all five fingers; withapproximately 10 to approximately 50 (e.g., approximately 25)millisecond pulse duration and/or approximately 10 to approximately 50(e.g., approximately 25) millisecond inter-pulse delay. In certainexemplary embodiments, hand movement back to the home position can besignaled by a unique tactile sensory waveform which can consist of threeapproximately 50 to approximately 300 (e.g., approximately 175)cycles-per-second square-wave pulses of approximately 5 to approximately50 (e.g., approximately 7) meters-per-second-squared amplitude appliedto all five fingers; with approximately 10 to approximately 50 (e.g.,approximately 25) millisecond pulse duration and/or approximately 10 toapproximately 50 (e.g., approximately 25) millisecond inter-pulse delay.

In certain exemplary embodiments, tactile feedback processing 48 cangenerate tactile sensory waveforms, rendered through a tactile feedbackdisplay 49, to confirm that finger press data 53 has been generated bykeyboard gesture recognition 52. In certain exemplary embodiments,tactile feedback processing 48 can generate a tactile sensory waveform(rendered through a tactile feedback display 49) to the individualfinger associated with the finger press data 53. In certain exemplaryembodiments, the tactile sensory waveform can consist of twoapproximately 50 to approximately 300 (e.g., approximately 175)cycles-per-second square-wave pulses of approximately 5 to approximately50 (e.g., approximately 14) meters-per-second-squared amplitude, withapproximately 10 to approximately 50 (e.g., approximately 25)millisecond pulse duration and/or approximately 10 to approximately 50(e.g., approximately 25) millisecond inter-pulse delay.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment with three light emitting diodes 11on the exterior of a glove 12. Three light emitting diodes can create atriad that can be tracked by a camera 13 as a rigid body. In thisembodiment, the computing system 23 can calculate up tothree-dimensional position coordinates (x, y, and/or z) for eitherand/or each triad as well as its orientation (roll, pitch, and/or yaw).This additional information can be used by the computing system 22 tocreate a richer set of user interactions in application software. Userinteractions can include manipulating software objects withthree-dimensional geometry, designating points on a three-dimensionalmap display, providing control inputs to a robotic manipulator, and/ororienting hand position with respect to a three-dimensional virtualkeyboard.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the human-machine interface cancomprise both left and right gloves. However, certain alternateembodiments can include only a single left or right hand glove. FIG. 14shows a human-machine interface with a single right hand glove. Thissingle hand embodiment can enable a full mouse emulation mode and/or amodified keyboard emulation mode. In this single-handed keyboardemulation mode, a distinct set of finger gestures (such as asimultaneous four finger tapping motion) can switch the finger-to-keymapping between the right and left side of the keyboard. In this way asingle hand can access the entire set of keys.

FIG. 14 shows that in certain exemplary embodiments, a single or reducednumber of light emitting diodes 11 may be placed on the back of thehand. In the case of a single light emitting diode 11, the image streamfrom the camera 13 can be used by the computing system 23 to calculateposition coordinates (x, y, and/or z) of the glove with respect to thecamera 13.

FIG. 15 shows a perspective view of the interior of an exemplaryembodiment of the glove in FIG. 14. In certain exemplary embodiments, asingle or reduced number of tactile actuation assemblies 15,light-emitting diodes 11, and/or flexion sensors 20 can be preferable inapplications where low cost and/or simplicity are desired. Conversely,in applications where high fidelity sensing and/or tactile feedbackperformance are desired, a greater number of tactile actuationassemblies 15, light-emitting diodes 11, and/or flexion sensors 20 canbe preferable.

FIG. 16 shows an exemplary embodiment of a tactile actuation assembly 15in which a vibrational motor 25, which can be of linear resonantactuator type or any alternative type, can move with respect to atactile adapter 26 in which it is partially enclosed.

FIG. 17 shows an exploded view of the exemplary embodiment of thetactile actuation assembly 15 shown in FIG. 16. Flexible gaskets 27 canprovide a spring-like resistance to the oscillatory motion of thevibrational motor 25 within the tactile adapter 26. Flexible gaskets 27,which can be fabricated from rubber, foam, and/or metal, can providedesired force versus displacement (spring stiffness) and/or desiredforce versus velocity relationship (damping) properties. Theseproperties can be selected to promote the efficient conversion ofelectrical energy (applied by portable electronics 14 to the vibrationalmotor 25) into mechanical vibrations on the surface of the human finger.

FIG. 18 shows a top view of the exemplary tactile actuation assembly 15shown in FIG. 16 and identifies section C-C used in FIG. 19.

FIG. 19 shows a section view, taken at section C-C, of the exemplarytactile actuation assembly 15 shown in FIG. 18. Flexible gaskets 27 canbe placed above and/or below the vibrational motor 25 such that therelative motion of the vibrational motor 25 with respect to the tactileadapter 26 is subject to the stiffness and/or damping properties of theflexible gaskets 27.

FIG. 20 shows a section view taken at section “A-A” of FIG. 2 for theexemplary embodiment of the tactile actuation assembly 15 shown in FIG.16. In certain exemplary embodiments, such as a space suit, the gaswithin the pressure layer of the inner glove 21 can be maintained suchthat it exerts a greater pressure on the pressure layer than thatexerted by the outside environment. In such cases, the inner glovelayers can become stiffened, similar to the surface of an inflatedballoon. As a result the glove material can become an efficient carrierof mechanical vibrations. The tactile adapter 26 can be operativelyattached to the fabric of the inner glove 21. A linear resonant actuatortype vibrational motor 25 can be held within a tactile adapter 26 suchthat its motion is limited to a direction normal to the surface of theinner glove 21. An amplitude-modulated drive voltage can be applied tothe motor from the portable electronics 14 through the wiring harness16. The resulting oscillatory forces in the vibrational motor 25 cancause it to push against the adjacent flexible gaskets 27. On thedownward stroke of the vibrational motor 25, the flexible gasket 27between the vibrational motor 25 and the inner glove 21 pushes againstthe material of the inner glove 21. On the upward stroke of thevibrational motor 25, the flexible gasket 27 between the vibrationalmotor 25 and the tactile adapter 26 pushes against the tactile adapter26. The tactile adapter 26, in turn, pulls against the material of theinner glove 21. These oscillatory push/pull forces against material ofthe inner glove 21 generate vibrations (oscillatory displacements) inthe inner glove 21 that carry around the pressure-stiffened material tothe human finger 28. The mechanical vibrations, induced by oscillationsof the inner glove 21 against the human finger 28, result in perceptibletactile sensation. The stiffness and/or damping of the flexible gaskets27 can be selected (experimentally or analytically) to improve thetransfer of electrical energy from the portable electronics 14 tomechanical energy in vibrations at the human fingertip.

Certain exemplary embodiments can require the availability of anelectrical power and/or data connection to the gloves. Of note, spacesuits used by NASA typically have a power harness for glove fingertipheaters that can be modified to provide a power and/or data conduit forthe gloves.

Certain exemplary embodiments can be used in concert with a visualelement such as a flat panel display, video eyewear (such as the Tac-EyeLT display from Vuzix Corporation, Rochester), and/or a helmet-mounteddisplay.

Certain exemplary embodiments can employ any of several alternativetechnologies for each of hand motion tracking, finger gesturerecognition, and/or vibrotactile actuation.

For motion tracking, certain exemplary embodiments can employ any of:

-   -   an infrared camera mounted on the protective suit to track the        position of three light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on the back of        the gloves;    -   a single, or any number of LEDs;    -   LEDs that emit at 850 nm or any other wavelength;    -   any number of passive markers on the gloves and/or active IR        illumination to provide targets for a suit-mounted infrared        camera to track;    -   magnetic tracking to track hand position;    -   acoustic tracking to track hand position;    -   a computer vision algorithm to estimate hand position from        images generated by a suit-mounted camera;    -   accelerometers on the hands to measure hand motion;    -   a suit-mounted camera and/or a structured light emitter to        generate a three-dimensional depth map that can be processed to        estimate hand position (for example the Kinect sensor from        Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.);    -   a scanning laser and associated optics to estimate hand        position;    -   a suit-integrated joint position sensing (e.g. optical encoders,        potentiometers, fiber optics, and/or resistive bend sensors) for        hand position; and/or    -   any other sensor type that provides information on hand motion.

For finger sensing, certain exemplary embodiments can employ any of:

-   -   resistive bend sensors (thin film potentiometers) aligned with        each finger to provide an estimate of finger flexion;    -   fiber optic bend sensors aligned with fingers in a manner        similar to the resistive bend sensors;    -   magnetic tracking to track individual finger positions;    -   acoustic tracking to track individual finger positions;    -   a computer vision algorithm to estimate hand pose from images        generated by a camera;    -   a camera and/or a structured light emitter to generate a        three-dimensional depth map that can be processed to estimate        hand pose (for example the Kinect sensor from Microsoft        Corporation, Redmond, Wash.);    -   a scanning laser and/or associated optics to estimate hand pose;        and/or    -   accelerometers on the fingers to measure finger motion;    -   any other sensor type or combination of sensor types that        provides information on finger motion;    -   five finger sensors integrated in each glove, one for each        digit;    -   finger sensing integrated for only a single finger, or any        number of fingers less than five; and/or    -   more than one sensor may be placed with each finger to permit        measurement of individual joint angles.

For generating tactile feedback, certain exemplary embodiments canemploy any of:

-   -   linear resonant actuators (LRAs) from Precision Microdrives        Inc.;    -   other electromechanical motors employing an electrical        coil-induced magnetic current to create an oscillating force        between itself and a permanent magnet;    -   a rotary motor employing an off-balance mass to generate the        necessary vibrations;    -   piezo-electric film and/or piezo-electric disks driven by an        alternating current to generate the necessary mechanical        vibrations;    -   an electro-active polymer actuator to generate the necessary        vibrations;    -   electrostatic actuator to generate the necessary vibrations;        and/or    -   any other actuator type to generate the necessary vibrations.

For applying tactile feedback, certain exemplary embodiments can employany of:

-   -   five tactile actuators integrated into each glove, one for each        digit;    -   tactile feedback to only a single finger, or any number of        fingers less than five;    -   tactile feedback to the hand, or other body part, in addition        to, or in replacement of tactile feedback to individual fingers;    -   tactile feedback to the back of the hand or in other locations        within the protective suit; and/or    -   more than one tactile actuator per finger.

Even if tactile feedback only is employed (motion tracking and/or fingersensing eliminated), tactile feedback can provide information to theuser of protective gloves, such as alerts, warnings, and/orcommunication notifications.

The addition of tactile sensing on the glove exterior can permitgeneration of tactile feedback to the user that can enhance their senseof touch during physical contact with the environment. This capabilitycan enhance safety and/or reduce wear-and-tear by reducing requiredgrasp forces. This capability can increase user performance duringmanual tasks while wearing protective gloves.

Software can enable alternate forms of gesture recognition and/ortactile feedback, such as pinch-type gestures to control the zoom levelon a visual display. Software can enable tactile feedback to provideapplication-specific cues, such as customized communications alertsand/or vibrations that indicate altitude on a relief map.

Certain exemplary embodiments can be used in a protective suit forextra-vehicular (EVA) activity, in a protective suite forintra-vehicular activity (IVA, e.g. within the cockpit of a spacecraft,capsule, or rover), in a pressurized flight suit, in an environmentalsuit for hazardous operations, and/or in any other application thatrequires both use of protective gloves and interaction with a mobilecommunications and/or computing device.

Certain exemplary embodiments can provide remote telerobotic control,using the gloved hand as a master control input to a dexterousmanipulator and/or providing tactile feedback to the human of sensedinteractions between the remote manipulator and its environment.

Certain exemplary embodiments can provide any of:

-   -   Access to operational procedures/checklists (scrolling,        selecting, marking);    -   Human-robot interaction:        -   Semi-autonomous, supervisory control through interactive            procedures;        -   Robot control through hand gestures;        -   Tele-manipulation, use gloves to control manipulator on            rover, tactile feedback of contact and grip forces;    -   Geological exploration, survey, sample collection (note taking,        cataloguing, annotating images);    -   Control and/or automation (control/monitor through interaction        with graphical displays):        -   Core drilling;        -   Construction;    -   Navigation (interaction/control of map display, panning,        zooming);    -   Biometrics and/or suit environmental systems monitoring (tactile        alerts/alarms for situation awareness);    -   Text communications, “chat”;    -   Gestural control of pan/tilt camera on suit;    -   IVA (intra-vehicular) applications (augment or replace        cumbersome context menu driven interfaces):        -   Control panels (virtual touch screen using gloves); and/or        -   Navigation systems (point and/or click capability with map            display)

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a method 21000. Atactivity 21100, movement of a gloved hand of a human can be tracked, thegloved hand wearing a protective glove comprising a sensory outputtransducer, such as a vibrotactile actuator and/or a tactor. At activity21200, movement of one or more fingers of the gloved hand can beinterpreted, for example, as an actual human finger movement foroperating an input device communicatively coupled to in informationdevice. At activity 21300, in response to interpreting the gloved fingermovement, via the sensory output transducer, haptic feedback can beprovided to the human, such as vibrotactile feedback that simulates thestriking of a key of a keyboard, sliding a mouse, rolling a trackball,scrolling a wheel, and/or clicking a button, etc. The haptic feedbackcan be provided across a protective layer of the glove to the skin ofthe human. At activity 21400, an output device, such as a display, canrender the interpreted finger movement and/or an output corresponding tothe interpreted finger movement, such as an entry, positioning,selection, scroll, and/or movement of a key, character, function key,menu, button, text, object, cursor, button, and/or window, etc.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an informationdevice 22000, which in certain operative embodiments can comprise, forexample, computing system 23 of FIG. 1. Information device 22000 cancomprise any of numerous transform circuits, which can be formed via anyof numerous communicatively-, electrically-, magnetically-, optically-,fluidically-, and/or mechanically-coupled physical components, such asfor example, one or more network interfaces 22100, one or moreprocessors 22200, one or more memories 22300 containing instructions22400, one or more input/output (I/O) devices 22500, and/or one or moreuser interfaces 22600 coupled to I/O device 22500, etc.

In certain exemplary embodiments, via one or more user interfaces 22600,such as a graphical user interface, a user can view a rendering ofinformation related to researching, designing, modeling, creating,developing, building, manufacturing, operating, maintaining, storing,marketing, selling, delivering, selecting, specifying, requesting,ordering, receiving, returning, rating, and/or recommending any of theproducts, services, methods, user interfaces, and/or informationdescribed herein.

Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a method comprising:

-   -   tracking movement of a gloved hand of a human, the gloved hand        wearing a protective glove comprising:        -   a plurality of layers, the plurality of layers comprising a            pressure layer that defines a hand side and an opposing            distal side; and/or        -   a sensory output transducer located adjacent to the distal            side of the pressure layer;    -   automatically interpreting an actual gloved finger movement of        the human as a predetermined finger movement for operating an        input device communicatively coupled to an information device;    -   in response to interpreting the actual gloved finger movement,        via the sensory output transducer, providing feedback to the        human;    -   transmitting the feedback though the pressure layer of the        protective glove to skin of the human;    -   rendering a movement of a cursor on a display, the movement        corresponding to the predetermined finger movement;    -   rendering a character on a display, the character corresponding        to the predetermined finger movement;    -   providing the human with a haptic sensation of a position of the        gloved hand on a keyboard;    -   providing the human with a haptic sensation of striking a key on        a keyboard;    -   providing the human with a haptic sensation of pressing a button        on a computer mouse; and/or    -   via a haptic sensation, providing the human with an alert;    -   etc.;

wherein:

-   -   the feedback is provided to at least one finger of the human;    -   the protective glove is comprised by a space suit;    -   the input device is a pointing device;    -   the input device is a character generator; and/or    -   the sensory output transducer is a vibrotactile actuator;    -   etc.

Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a system comprising:

-   -   a hand movement tracking circuit operatively adapted to track        movement of a gloved hand of a human, the gloved hand wearing a        protective glove comprising:        -   a plurality of layers, the plurality of layers comprising a            pressure layer that defines a hand side and an opposing            distal side; and/or        -   a sensory output transducer adapted to be operatively            located adjacent to the distal side of the pressure layer;    -   a finger movement interpretation circuit operatively adapted to        interpret an actual gloved finger movement of the human as a        predetermined finger movement for operating an input device        communicatively coupled to an information device; and    -   a sensory feedback circuit operatively adapted to, in response        to interpreting the actual gloved finger movement, via the        sensory output transducer, provide feedback to the human; and/or    -   at least one tracking target integrated into the protective        glove, the at least one tracking target comprising at least one        of a light emitter, a magnet, a radio-frequency coil, and/or a        sound emitter;    -   etc.;    -   wherein:        -   the protective glove is a component of a protective suit;        -   the protective glove is a component of a space suit;        -   the sensory output transducer is a tactile sensory output            transducer;        -   the sensory output transducer is a tactile actuator;        -   the sensory output transducer is a vibrotactile actuator;        -   the sensory output transducer is a vibrational actuator            mounted on or adjacent to the pressure layer of the            protective glove;        -   the sensory output transducer is a vibrational actuator            mounted in a position operatively adapted to be adjacent to            a finger of the protective glove;        -   the sensory output transducer is operatively adapted to            provide tactile feedback regarding one or more control            inputs received by the information system;        -   the sensory output transducer is operatively adapted to not            interfere with use of the protective glove by the human for            grasping or manipulating;        -   the sensory output transducer is a resonant actuator            comprising at least one of an electromagnetic actuator, a            piezoelectric actuator, and/or an electro-active polymer;        -   vibrations induced by the sensory output transducer are            transported by the pressure layer of the protective glove to            skin of the human and provide tactile feedback to the human            of one or more control inputs to the information device;        -   the hand movement tracking circuit comprises at least one of            an optical tracker, a magnetic tracker, a radio-frequency            tracker, and/or an acoustic tracker;        -   the finger movement interpretation circuit comprises at            least one finger motion sensing transducer comprising at            least one of a finger flexion sensor, an accelerometer, a            magnetic field sensor, an optical sensor, and/or an            electromyography sensor;        -   the system is operatively adapted to render, on a display            communicatively coupled to the information device, at least            one of a cursor movement event, a cursor placement event, a            clicking event, a dragging event, a scrolling event, a            selecting event, and/or a keying event;        -   the system is operatively adapted to interpret a change in a            position of the gloved hand and/or one or more fingers of            the gloved hand as corresponding to one or more            predetermined key strikes;        -   the system is operatively adapted to provide the human with            a haptic sensation that the gloved hand of the human is            utilizing the input device;        -   the system is operatively adapted to provide the human with            a haptic sensation substantially indicating that the gloved            hand of the human is utilizing a keyboard; and/or        -   the system is operatively adapted to provide the human with            a haptic sensation substantially indicating that the gloved            hand of the human is utilizing a computer mouse;        -   etc.

Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a system comprising:

-   -   a protective glove for a hand of a human, the protective glove        comprising:        -   a plurality of layers, the plurality of layers comprising a            pressure layer that defines a hand side and an opposing            distal side; and/or        -   a sensory output transducer operatively adapted to be            located adjacent to the distal side of the pressure layer;            and/or    -   a sensory feedback circuit operatively adapted to provide        tactile feedback through the pressure layer to the hand of the        human;    -   etc.

DEFINITIONS

When the following phrases are used substantively herein, theaccompanying definitions apply. These phrases and definitions arepresented without prejudice, and, consistent with the application, theright to redefine these phrases via amendment during the prosecution ofthis application or any application claiming priority hereto isreserved. For the purpose of interpreting a claim of any patent thatclaims priority hereto, each definition in that patent functions as aclear and unambiguous disavowal of the subject matter outside of thatdefinition.

-   -   a—at least one.    -   accelerometer—an instrument for measuring and/or recording        acceleration, the rate of acceleration, and/or acceleration        force(s) in one or more dimensions.    -   acoustic—of or relating to sound, the sense of hearing, and/or        the science of sound.    -   activity—an action, act, step, and/or process or portion thereof    -   actual—real, realized, and/or existing; not merely potential or        possible; based in reality; and/or measurable.    -   actuator—a device that converts, translates, and/or interprets        signals (e.g., electrical, optical, hydraulic, pneumatic, etc.)        to cause a physical and/or humanly perceptible action and/or        output, such as a motion (e.g., rotation of a motor shaft,        vibration, position of a valve, position of a solenoid, position        of a switch, and/or position of a relay, etc.), audible sound        (e.g., horn, bell, and/or alarm, etc.), and/or visible rendering        (e.g., indicator light, non-numerical display, and/or numerical        display, etc).    -   adapted to—suitable, fit, and/or capable of performing a        specified function.    -   adapter—a device used to effect operative compatibility between        different parts of one or more pieces of an apparatus or system.    -   adjacent—close to; lying near; next to; adjoining, and/or within        a horizontal radius of approximately 0 to approximately 0.2        inches of, including all values and subranges therebetween.    -   alert—information and/or a signal that is adapted to warn and/or        notify.    -   an—at least one.    -   and/or—either in conjunction with or in alternative to.    -   apparatus—an appliance or device for a particular purpose    -   are—to exist.    -   associate—to join, connect together, and/or relate.    -   at least one—not less than one, and possibly more than one.    -   automatic—performed via an information device in a manner        essentially independent of influence and/or control by a user.        For example, an automatic light switch can turn on upon “seeing”        a person in its “view”, without the person manually operating        the light switch.    -   barrier—a structure and/or element that impedes and/or obstructs        free movement.    -   be—to exist in actuality.    -   bladder—a hollow and/or inflated sac-like structure.    -   Boolean logic—a complete system for logical operations.    -   can—is capable of, in at least some embodiments.    -   cause—to bring about, provoke, precipitate, produce, elicit, be        the reason for, result in, and/or effect.    -   change—(v.) to cause to be different; (n.) the act, process,        and/or result of altering and/or modifying.    -   character—a symbol, number, letter, and/or punctuation mark,        etc., that represents data interpretable by an information        device.    -   circuit—a physical system comprising, depending on context: an        electrically conductive pathway, an information transmission        mechanism, and/or a communications connection, the pathway,        mechanism, and/or connection established via a switching device        (such as a switch, relay, transistor, and/or logic gate, etc.);        and/or an electrically conductive pathway, an information        transmission mechanism, and/or a communications connection, the        pathway, mechanism, and/or connection established across two or        more switching devices comprised by a network and between        corresponding end systems connected to, but not comprised by the        network.    -   click—to press down and/or release a button on a pointing        device, such as a mouse.    -   coil—(n) a continuous loop comprising one or more turns of        electrically conductive material and/or a conductor that creates        a magnetic field due to the flow of current therein, the        conductor formed into one or more convolutions or turns, or        having only a partial turn, or being straight; (v) to roll        and/or form into a configuration having a substantially spiraled        cross-section.    -   communicatively—linking in a manner that facilitates        communications.    -   component—a constituent element and/or part.    -   comprising—including but not limited to.    -   computer mouse—a hand-held, button-activated input device that        when rolled along a flat surface directs an indicator to move        correspondingly about a display, allowing the operator to move        the indicator freely, as to select operations and/or manipulate        text and/or graphics.    -   configure—to make suitable or fit for a specific use or        situation.    -   connect—to join or fasten together.    -   containing—including but not limited to.    -   control—(n) a mechanical or electronic device used to operate a        machine within predetermined limits; (v) to exercise        authoritative and/or dominating influence over, cause to act in        a predetermined manner, direct, adjust to a requirement, and/or        regulate.    -   convert—to transform, adapt, and/or change.    -   corresponding—related, associated, accompanying, similar in        purpose and/or position, conforming in every respect, and/or        equivalent and/or agreeing in amount, quantity, magnitude,        quality, and/or degree.    -   couple—to join, connect, and/or link by any known way, including        mechanical, fluidic, acoustic, electrical, magnetic, optical,        etc.    -   create—to bring into being.    -   cursor—a pointer and/or position indicator associated with a        rendering.    -   data—distinct pieces of information, usually formatted in a        special or predetermined way and/or organized to express        concepts, and/or represented in a form suitable for processing        by an information device.    -   data structure—an organization of a collection of data that        allows the data to be manipulated effectively and/or a logical        relationship among data elements that is designed to support        specific data manipulation functions. A data structure can        comprise meta data to describe the properties of the data        structure. Examples of data structures can include: array,        dictionary, graph, hash, heap, linked list, matrix, object,        queue, ring, stack, tree, and/or vector.    -   define—to establish the outline, form, and/or structure of.    -   determine—to find out, obtain, calculate, decide, deduce,        ascertain, and/or come to a decision, typically by        investigation, reasoning, and/or calculation.    -   device—a machine, manufacture, and/or collection thereof    -   digital—non-analog and/or discrete.    -   display—(v.) to render and/or make perceptible to human sensory        means. (n.) an electronic device that renders information such        that it can be perceived and/or interpreted through human        sensory means.    -   distal—remote from another with respect to some physical point        of reference or origin (for example, with respect to the elbow,        the hand is located beyond the distal end of the forearm).    -   drag—to move a pointing device while pressing down on one of its        buttons.    -   electroactive—describing any material (especially in a cell)        that is electrically active and/or responsive and/or describing        any polymer that changes shape in the presence of an electric        field.    -   electromyography—the sensing of the electrical activity of a        skeletal muscle by means of an electrode inserted into the        muscle or placed on the skin.    -   emit—to give and/or send out.    -   estimate—(n) a calculated value approximating an actual        value; (v) to calculate and/or determine approximately and/or        tentatively.    -   event—an occurrence and/or happening.    -   feedback—the return of information about the result of a process        or activity.    -   finger—one of the five digits of the hand, including the thumb.    -   flexion—the bending a joint or limb in the body.    -   for—with a purpose of.    -   gas—a substance (for example air) that has neither independent        shape nor volume but tends to expand to fill the space it is in.    -   generate—to create, produce, give rise to, and/or bring into        existence.    -   gesture—a movement and/or position of at least one of a finger,        hand, limb, body, head, and/or face, etc., that conveys        information and/or is expressive of an idea, intent, opinion,        sentiment, emotion, and/or attitude, etc.    -   glove—a fitted covering for the hand with a separate sheath for        each finger.    -   gloved—wearing a glove.    -   grasp—to take hold of or seize firmly with or as if with the        hand.    -   hand—the terminal part of the human arm located below the        forearm, used for grasping and holding and comprising the wrist,        palm, four fingers, and an opposable thumb.    -   haptic—involving the human sense of kinesthetic movement and/or        the human sense of touch. Among the many potential haptic        experiences are numerous sensations, body-positional differences        in sensations, and time-based changes in sensations that are        perceived at least partially in non-visual, non-audible, and        non-olfactory manners, including the experiences of passive        touch (being touched), active touch, grasping, pressure,        friction, traction, slip, friction, stretch, force, torque,        impact, puncture, vibration, motion, acceleration, jerk, pulse,        orientation, limb position, gravity, texture, gap, recess,        viscosity, pain, itch, moisture, temperature, thermal        conductivity, and thermal capacity.    -   having—including but not limited to.    -   human—a member of, or substantially resembling a member of, the        genus Homo and especially of the species H. sapiens.    -   human-machine interface—hardware and/or software adapted to        render information to a user and/or receive information from the        user; and/or a user interface.    -   impermeable—not permeable.    -   including—including but not limited to.    -   induce—to bring about or cause to occur.    -   information—facts, terms, concepts, phrases, expressions,        commands, numbers, characters, and/or symbols, etc., that are        related to a subject. Sometimes used synonymously with data, and        sometimes used to describe organized, transformed, and/or        processed data. It is generally possible to automate certain        activities involving the management, organization, storage,        transformation, communication, and/or presentation of        information.    -   information device—any device capable of processing data and/or        information, such as any general purpose and/or special purpose        computer, such as a personal computer, workstation, server,        minicomputer, mainframe, supercomputer, computer terminal,        laptop, tablet computer (such as an iPad-like device), wearable        computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), mobile terminal,        Bluetooth device, communicator, “smart” phone (such as an        iPhone-like device), messaging service (e.g., Blackberry)        receiver, pager, facsimile, cellular telephone, traditional        telephone, telephonic device, embedded controller, programmed        microprocessor or microcontroller and/or peripheral integrated        circuit elements, ASIC or other integrated circuit, hardware        electronic logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit,        and/or programmable logic device such as a PLD, PLA, FPGA, or        PAL, or the like, etc. In general, any device on which resides a        finite state machine capable of implementing at least a portion        of a method, structure, and/or or graphical user interface        described herein may be used as an information device. An        information device can comprise components such as one or more        network interfaces, one or more processors, one or more memories        containing instructions, and/or one or more input/output (I/O)        devices, one or more user interfaces coupled to an I/O device,        etc. In information device can be a component of and/or augment        another device, such as an appliance, machine, tool, robot,        vehicle, television, printer, “smart” utility meter, etc.    -   initialize—to prepare something for use and/or some future        event.    -   inner—closer than another to the center and/or middle.    -   input—a signal, data, and/or information provided to a        processor, device, and/or system.    -   input device—any device adapted to provide input to an        information device. Examples can include, for example, a        keyboard, keypad, mouse, trackball, joystick, gamepad, wheel,        touchpad, touch panel, pointing device, microphone, video        camera, camera, and/or scanner, potentially including a port to        which an input device can be operatively attached or connected.    -   input/output (I/O) device—any device adapted to provide input        to, and/or receive output from, an information device. Examples        can include an audio, visual, haptic, olfactory, and/or        taste-oriented device, including, for example, a monitor,        display, projector, overhead display, keyboard, keypad, mouse,        trackball, joystick, gamepad, wheel, touchpad, touch panel,        pointing device, microphone, speaker, video camera, camera,        scanner, printer, switch, relay, haptic device, vibrator,        tactile simulator, and/or tactile pad, potentially including a        port to which an I/O device can be attached or connected.    -   install—to connect and/or set in position and/or prepare for        use.    -   instructions—directions, which can be implemented as hardware,        firmware, and/or software, the directions adapted to perform a        particular operation and/or function via creation and/or        maintenance of a predetermined physical circuit.    -   integrated—formed or united into a whole or into another entity.    -   interfere—to obstruct and/or impede.    -   interpret—to make sense of and/or assign a meaning to.    -   into—to a condition, state, or form of; toward; in the direction        of, and/or to the inside of.    -   is—to exist in actuality.    -   key—(n.) a keyboard element that can be struck to cause a        corresponding character or function to be accepted as input by        an information device; (v.) to strike a key of a keyboard.    -   keyboard—a data input device for an information system, the        device having a set of keys having a general arrangement modeled        after the keys of a typewriter.    -   layer—a single thickness of a material covering a surface and/or        forming an overlying part and/or segment; a ply, strata, and/or        sheet.    -   light—electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength within a        range of approximately 300 nanometers to approximately 1000        nanometers, including any and all values and subranges        therebetween.    -   locate—to situate, place, and/or find in approximately in a        particular spot, region, and/or position.    -   logic gate—a physical device adapted to perform a logical        operation on one or more logic inputs and to produce a single        logic output, which is manifested physically. Because the output        is also a logic-level value, an output of one logic gate can        connect to the input of one or more other logic gates, and via        such combinations, complex operations can be performed. The        logic normally performed is Boolean logic and is most commonly        found in digital circuits. The most common implementations of        logic gates are based on electronics using resistors,        transistors, and/or diodes, and such implementations often        appear in large arrays in the form of integrated circuits        (a.k.a., IC's, microcircuits, microchips, silicon chips, and/or        chips). It is possible, however, to create logic gates that        operate based on vacuum tubes, electromagnetics (e.g., relays),        mechanics (e.g., gears), fluidics, optics, chemical reactions,        and/or DNA, including on a molecular scale. Each        electronically-implemented logic gate typically has two inputs        and one output, each having a logic level or state typically        physically represented by a voltage. At any given moment, every        terminal is in one of the two binary logic states (“false”        (a.k.a., “low” or “0”) or “true” (a.k.a., “high” or “1”),        represented by different voltage levels, yet the logic state of        a terminal can, and generally does, change often, as the circuit        processes data. Thus, each electronic logic gate typically        requires power so that it can source and/or sink currents to        achieve the correct output voltage. Typically,        machine-implementable instructions are ultimately encoded into        binary values of “0”s and/or “1”s and, are typically written        into and/or onto a memory device, such as a “register”, which        records the binary value as a change in a physical property of        the memory device, such as a change in voltage, current, charge,        phase, pressure, weight, height, tension, level, gap, position,        velocity, momentum, force, temperature, polarity, magnetic        field, magnetic force, magnetic orientation, reflectivity,        molecular linkage, molecular weight, etc. An exemplary register        might store a value of “01101100”, which encodes a total of 8        “bits” (one byte), where each value of either “0” or “1” is        called a “bit” (and 8 bits are collectively called a “byte”).        Note that because a binary bit can only have one of two        different values (either “0” or “1”), any physical medium        capable of switching between two saturated states can be used to        represent a bit. Therefore, any physical system capable of        representing binary bits is able to represent numerical        quantities, and potentially can manipulate those numbers via        particular encoded machine-implementable instructions. This is        one of the basic concepts underlying digital computing. At the        register and/or gate level, a computer does not treat these “0”s        and “1”s as numbers per se, but typically as voltage levels (in        the case of an electronically-implemented computer), for        example, a high voltage of approximately +3 volts might        represent a “1” or “logical true” and a low voltage of        approximately 0 volts might represent a “0” or “logical false”        (or vice versa, depending on how the circuitry is designed).        These high and low voltages (or other physical properties,        depending on the nature of the implementation) are typically fed        into a series of logic gates, which in turn, through the correct        logic design, produce the physical and logical results specified        by the particular encoded machine-implementable instructions.        For example, if the encoding request a calculation, the logic        gates might add the first two bits of the encoding together,        produce a result “1” (“0”+“1”=“1”), and then write this result        into another register for subsequent retrieval and reading. Or,        if the encoding is a request for some kind of service, the logic        gates might in turn access or write into some other registers        which would in turn trigger other logic gates to initiate the        requested service.    -   logical—a conceptual representation.    -   machine-implementable instructions—directions adapted to cause a        machine, such as an information device, to perform one or more        particular activities, operations, and/or functions via forming        a particular physical circuit. The directions, which can        sometimes form an entity called a “processor”, “kernel”,        “operating system”, “program”, “application”, “utility”,        “subroutine”, “script”, “macro”, “file”, “project”, “module”,        “library”, “class”, and/or “object”, etc., can be embodied        and/or encoded as machine code, source code, object code,        compiled code, assembled code, interpretable code, and/or        executable code, etc., in hardware, firmware, and/or software.    -   machine-readable medium—a physical structure from which a        machine, such as an information device, computer,        microprocessor, and/or controller, etc., can store and/or obtain        one or more machine-implementable instructions, data, and/or        information. Examples include a memory device, punch card,        player-piano scroll, etc.    -   magnet—an object that is surrounded by a magnetic field and that        has the property, either natural or induced, of attracting iron        and/or steel.    -   magnetic—having the property of attracting iron and certain        other materials by virtue of a surrounding field of force.    -   magnetic field—the portion of space near a magnetic body or a        current-carrying body in which the magnetic forces due to the        body or current can be detected.    -   manipulate—to move, arrange, operate, or control by or as if by        the hands and/or by mechanical means.    -   may—is allowed and/or permitted to, in at least some        embodiments.    -   memory device—an apparatus capable of storing, sometimes        permanently, machine-implementable instructions, data, and/or        information, in analog and/or digital format. Examples include        at least one non-volatile memory, volatile memory, register,        relay, switch, Random Access Memory, RAM, Read Only Memory, ROM,        flash memory, magnetic media, hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic        tape, optical media, optical disk, compact disk, CD, digital        versatile disk, DVD, and/or raid array, etc. The memory device        can be coupled to a processor and/or can store and provide        instructions adapted to be executed by processor, such as        according to an embodiment disclosed herein.    -   method—one or more acts that are performed upon subject matter        to be transformed to a different state or thing and/or are tied        to a particular apparatus, said one or more acts not a        fundamental principal and not pre-empting all uses of a        fundamental principal.    -   more—a quantifier meaning greater in size, amount, extent,        and/or degree.    -   motion—movement due to rotation and/or translation.    -   motor—a machine adapted to convert energy and/or signals into        mechanical motion.    -   mount—to couple, fix, and/or attach on and/or to something.    -   move—to change position and/or transfer from one location to        another.    -   movement—a change in position from one location to another.    -   network—a communicatively coupled plurality of nodes,        communication devices, and/or information devices. Via a        network, such nodes and/or devices can be linked, such as via        various wireline and/or wireless media, such as cables,        telephone lines, power lines, optical fibers, radio waves,        and/or light beams, etc., to share resources (such as printers        and/or memory devices), exchange files, and/or allow electronic        communications therebetween. A network can be and/or can utilize        any of a wide variety of sub-networks and/or protocols, such as        a circuit switched, public-switched, packet switched,        connection-less, wireless, virtual, radio, data, telephone,        twisted pair, POTS, non-POTS, DSL, cellular, telecommunications,        video distribution, cable, radio, terrestrial, microwave,        broadcast, satellite, broadband, corporate, global, national,        regional, wide area, backbone, packet-switched TCP/IP, IEEE        802.03, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Token Ring, local area, wide        area, IP, public Internet, intranet, private, ATM, Ultra Wide        Band (UWB), Wi-Fi, BlueTooth, Airport, IEEE 802.11, IEEE        802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, X-10, electrical power, 3G,        4G, multi-domain, and/or multi-zone sub-network and/or protocol,        one or more Internet service providers, one or more network        interfaces, and/or one or more information devices, such as a        switch, router, and/or gateway not directly connected to a local        area network, etc., and/or any equivalents thereof.    -   network interface—any physical and/or logical device, system,        and/or process capable of coupling an information device to a        network. Exemplary network interfaces comprise a telephone,        cellular phone, cellular modem, telephone data modem, fax modem,        wireless transceiver, communications port, ethernet card, cable        modem, digital subscriber line interface, bridge, hub, router,        or other similar device, software to manage such a device,        and/or software to provide a function of such a device.    -   not—a negation of something.    -   operating—arising out of normal and/or functional operations of        an entity.    -   operatively—in a manner able to function and/or to work.    -   optical—of or relating to light, sight, and/or a visual        representation.    -   outer—farther than another from the center and/or middle.    -   output—(n) something produced and/or generated; data produced by        an information device executing machine-readable instructions;        and/or the energy, power, work, signal, and/or information        produced by a system. (v) to provide, produce, manufacture,        and/or generate.    -   packet—a generic term for a bundle of data organized in a        specific way for transmission, such as within and/or across a        network, such as a digital packet-switching network, and        comprising the data to be transmitted and certain control        information, such as a destination address.    -   perceptible—capable of being perceived by the human senses.    -   permeability—the ability of a membrane or other material to        permit a substance to pass through it.    -   phalanx—any of the bones of the fingers or toes.    -   physical—tangible, real, and/or actual.    -   physically—existing, happening, occurring, acting, and/or        operating in a manner that is tangible, real, and/or actual.    -   piezoelectric—the generation of electricity or of electric        polarity in dielectric crystals subjected to mechanical stress,        and/or the generation of stress in such crystals subjected to an        applied voltage.    -   placement—a location at which something is positioned.    -   plurality—the state of being plural and/or more than one.    -   point—(v.) to indicate a position and/or direction of.    -   polymer—a chemical compound and/or mixture of compounds formed        by polymerization (a chemical reaction in which two or more        molecules (often called “monomers”) combine via covalent        chemical bonds to form larger molecules that contain repeating        structural units). Examples of polymers include ABS's,        polyacetates, polyacrylics, alkyds, epoxies,        flourothermoplastics, liquid crystal polymers, nylons, styrene        acrylonitriles, polybutylene terephthalates, polycarbonates,        thermoplastic elastomers, polyketones, polypropylenes,        polyethylenes, polystyrenes, PVC's, polyesters, polyurethanes,        thermoplastic rubbers, and/or polyamides, etc.    -   position—(n) a place and/or location, often relative to a        reference point. (v) to place, put, and/or locate.    -   predetermined—determined, decided, obtained, calculated, and/or        established in advance.    -   pressure—a measure of force applied uniformly over a surface.    -   pressure layer—a layer comprising one or more materials        operatively adapted to be substantially gas-impermeable.    -   pressure suit—a suit operatively adapted to be pressurized        and/or for wear in a vacuum and/or at low ambient pressures.    -   pressurize (tr.v. pressurized)—to maintain a differential        pressure on a material. For example, a substantially impermeable        material may become pressurized when the pressure (exerted by        any combination of gasses, liquids, or solids) on one side of        the material exceeds the pressure (exerted by any combination of        gasses, liquids, or solids) on the other side of the material        (which may be zero in the case of a vacuum).    -   probability—a quantitative representation of a likelihood of an        occurrence.    -   processor—a machine that utilizes hardware, firmware, and/or        software and is physically adaptable to perform, via Boolean        logic operating on a plurality of logic gates that form        particular physical circuits, a specific task defined by a set        of machine-implementable instructions. A processor can utilize        mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical, magnetic, optical,        informational, chemical, and/or biological principles,        mechanisms, adaptations, signals, inputs, and/or outputs to        perform the task(s). In certain embodiments, a processor can act        upon information by manipulating, analyzing, modifying, and/or        converting it, transmitting the information for use by        machine-implementable instructions and/or an information device,        and/or routing the information to an output device. A processor        can function as a central processing unit, local controller,        remote controller, parallel controller, and/or distributed        controller, etc. Unless stated otherwise, the processor can be a        general-purpose device, such as a microcontroller and/or a        microprocessor, such the Pentium family of microprocessor        manufactured by the Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. In        certain embodiments, the processor can be dedicated purpose        device, such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit        (ASIC) or a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that has been        designed to implement in its hardware and/or firmware at least a        part of an embodiment disclosed herein. A processor can reside        on and use the capabilities of a controller.    -   project—(v) to calculate, estimate, or predict.    -   protective—adapted to provide protection.    -   provide—to furnish, supply, give, convey, send, and/or make        available.    -   radio-frequency—a frequency of electromagnetic radiation in the        range at which radio signals are transmitted, ranging from        approximately 3 kilohertz to approximately 300 gigahertz.    -   receive—to get as a signal, gather, take, acquire, obtain,        accept, get, and/or have bestowed upon.    -   recommend—to suggest, praise, commend, and/or endorse.    -   regarding—pertaining to.    -   render—to, e.g., physically, chemically, biologically,        electronically, electrically, magnetically, optically,        acoustically, fluidically, and/or mechanically, etc., transform        information into a form perceptible to a human as, for example,        data, commands, text, graphics, audio, video, animation, and/or        hyperlinks, etc., such as via a visual, audio, and/or haptic,        etc., means and/or depiction, such as via a display, monitor,        electric paper, ocular implant, cochlear implant, speaker,        vibrator, shaker, force-feedback device, stylus, joystick,        steering wheel, glove, blower, heater, cooler, pin array,        tactile touchscreen, etc.    -   repeatedly—again and again; repetitively.    -   request—to express a desire for and/or ask for.    -   resonant—resulting from or as if from resonance, which is the        increase in amplitude of oscillation of an electric and/or        mechanical system exposed to a periodic force whose frequency is        equal or very close to the natural undamped frequency of the        system.    -   response—a reaction, reply, and/or answer to an influence and/or        impetus.    -   scroll—to cause displayed text and/or graphics to move up, down,        and/or across the screen.    -   select—to make and/or indicate a choice and/or selection from        among alternatives.    -   sensation—a perception associated with stimulation of one or        more sense organ.    -   sensor—a device adapted to automatically sense, perceive,        detect, and/or measure a physical property (e.g., pressure,        temperature, flow, mass, heat, light, sound, humidity,        proximity, position, velocity, vibration, loudness, voltage,        current, capacitance, resistance, inductance, magnetic flux,        and/or electro-magnetic radiation, etc.) and convert that        physical quantity into a signal. Examples include position        sensors, proximity switches, stain gages, photo sensors,        thermocouples, level indicating devices, speed sensors,        accelerometers, electrical voltage indicators, electrical        current indicators, on/off indicators, and/or flowmeters, etc.    -   sensory—of or relating to the senses or sensation.    -   server—an information device and/or a process running thereon,        that is adapted to be communicatively coupled to a network and        that is adapted to provide at least one service for at least one        client, i.e., for at least one other information device        communicatively coupled to the network and/or for at least one        process running on another information device communicatively        coupled to the network. One example is a file server, which has        a local drive and services requests from remote clients to read,        write, and/or manage files on that drive. Another example is an        e-mail server, which provides at least one program that accepts,        temporarily stores, relays, and/or delivers e-mail messages.        Still another example is a database server, which processes        database queries. Yet another example is a device server, which        provides networked and/or programmable: access to, and/or        monitoring, management, and/or control of, shared physical        resources and/or devices, such as information devices, printers,        modems, scanners, projectors, displays, lights, cameras,        security equipment, proximity readers, card readers, kiosks,        POS/retail equipment, phone systems, residential equipment, HVAC        equipment, medical equipment, laboratory equipment, industrial        equipment, machine tools, pumps, fans, motor drives, scales,        programmable logic controllers, sensors, data collectors,        actuators, alarms, annunciators, and/or input/output devices,        etc.    -   set—a related plurality.    -   signal—(v) to communicate; (n) one or more automatically        detectable variations in a physical variable, such as a        pneumatic, hydraulic, acoustic, fluidic, mechanical, electrical,        magnetic, optical, chemical, and/or biological variable, such as        power, energy, pressure, flowrate, viscosity, density, torque,        impact, force, frequency, phase, voltage, current, resistance,        magnetomotive force, magnetic field intensity, magnetic field        flux, magnetic flux density, reluctance, permeability, index of        refraction, optical wavelength, polarization, reflectance,        transmittance, phase shift, concentration, and/or temperature,        etc., that can encode information, such as machine-implementable        instructions for activities and/or one or more letters, words,        characters, symbols, signal flags, visual displays, and/or        special sounds, etc., having prearranged meaning Depending on        the context, a signal and/or the information encoded therein can        be synchronous, asynchronous, hard real-time, soft real-time,        non-real time, continuously generated, continuously varying,        analog, discretely generated, discretely varying, quantized,        digital, broadcast, multicast, unicast, transmitted, conveyed,        received, continuously measured, discretely measured, processed,        encoded, encrypted, multiplexed, modulated, spread, de-spread,        demodulated, detected, de-multiplexed, decrypted, and/or        decoded, etc.    -   skin—the membranous tissue forming the external covering of an        animal and comprising in vertebrates the epidermis and dermis.    -   sound—a sensation produced by stimulation of the organs of        hearing by vibrations transmitted through the air and/or other        medium.    -   space suit—A protective suit adapted for wear by humans at high        altitudes, outside of the Earth's atmosphere, and/or at low        atmospheric pressures. A space suit can comprise a pressure suit        and any number of protective layers that can provide a measure        of protection from environmental hazards that can include low        atmospheric pressure, low partial pressure of oxygen, toxic        compounds, thermal extremes, micrometeoroid impact,        electromagnetic radiation, electric shock, charged particles,        punctures, and/or cuts, etc.    -   special purpose computer—a computer and/or information device        comprising a processor device having a plurality of logic gates,        whereby at least a portion of those logic gates, via        implementation of specific machine-implementable instructions by        the processor, experience a change in at least one physical and        measurable property, such as a voltage, current, charge, phase,        pressure, weight, height, tension, level, gap, position,        velocity, momentum, force, temperature, polarity, magnetic        field, magnetic force, magnetic orientation, reflectivity,        molecular linkage, molecular weight, etc., thereby directly        tying the specific machine-implementable instructions to the        logic gate's specific configuration and property(ies). In the        context of an electronic computer, each such change in the logic        gates creates a specific electrical circuit, thereby directly        tying the specific machine-implementable instructions to that        specific electrical circuit.    -   special purpose processor—a processor device, having a plurality        of logic gates, whereby at least a portion of those logic gates,        via implementation of specific machine-implementable        instructions by the processor, experience a change in at least        one physical and measurable property, such as a voltage,        current, charge, phase, pressure, weight, height, tension,        level, gap, position, velocity, momentum, force, temperature,        polarity, magnetic field, magnetic force, magnetic orientation,        reflectivity, molecular linkage, molecular weight, etc., thereby        directly tying the specific machine-implementable instructions        to the logic gate's specific configuration and property(ies). In        the context of an electronic computer, each such change in the        logic gates creates a specific electrical circuit, thereby        directly tying the specific machine-implementable instructions        to that specific electrical circuit.    -   store—to place, hold, and/or retain data, typically in a memory.    -   strike—to depress, press, tap, click, actuate, and/or operate.    -   structure—a device.    -   substantially—to a considerable, large, and/or great, but not        necessarily whole and/or entire, extent and/or degree.    -   substantially—to a great extent and/or degree.    -   support—to bear the weight of, especially from below.    -   switch—(v) to: form, open, and/or close one or more circuits;        form, complete, and/or break an electrical and/or informational        path; select a path and/or circuit from a plurality of available        paths and/or circuits; and/or establish a connection between        disparate transmission path segments in a network (or between        networks); (n) a physical device, such as a mechanical,        electrical, and/or electronic device, that is adapted to switch.    -   system—a collection of mechanisms, devices, machines, articles        of manufacture, processes, data, and/or instructions, the        collection designed to perform one or more specific functions.    -   tactile—perceptible to the sense of touch and/or able to be felt        via the fingertip.    -   tactile-feedback—information perceptible to the sense of touch        and based on force, pressure, vibration, motion, skin stretch,        displacement, gap, recess, texture, friction, and/or        temperature, etc.    -   target—a thing to be tracked, followed, and/or monitored.    -   that—a pronoun used to indicate a thing as indicated, mentioned        before, present, and/or well known.    -   through—in one side and out the opposite and/or another side of.    -   to—a preposition adapted for use for expressing purpose.    -   track—to follow, observe, and/or monitor the course of    -   transducer—a device that converts one form of energy into        another. For example, a sensing optical fiber can convert        changes in mechanical energy, such as a perturbation of the        fiber, to changes in optical energy.    -   transform—to change in measurable: form, appearance, nature,        and/or character.    -   transmit—to provide, furnish, supply, send as a signal, and/or        to convey (e.g., force, energy, and/or information) from one        place and/or thing to another.    -   transport—to carry, convey, and/or move.    -   use—to put into service, utilize, make work, and/or employ for a        particular purpose and/or for its inherent and/or natural        purpose.    -   user interface—any device for rendering information to a user        and/or receiving information from the user. A user interface        includes at least one of textual, graphical, audio, video,        animation, and/or haptic elements. A textual element can be        provided, for example, by a printer, monitor, display,        projector, etc. A graphical element can be provided, for        example, via a monitor, display, projector, and/or visual        indication device, such as a light, flag, beacon, etc. An audio        element can be provided, for example, via a speaker, microphone,        and/or other sound generating and/or receiving device. A video        element or animation element can be provided, for example, via a        monitor, display, projector, and/or other visual device. A        haptic element can be provided, for example, via a low frequency        speaker, vibrator, tactile stimulator, tactile pad, simulator,        keyboard, keypad, mouse, trackball, joystick, gamepad, wheel,        touchpad, touch panel, pointing device, and/or other haptic        device, etc. A user interface can include one or more textual        elements such as, for example, one or more letters, number,        symbols, etc. A user interface can include one or more graphical        elements such as, for example, an image, photograph, drawing,        icon, window, title bar, panel, sheet, tab, drawer, matrix,        table, form, calendar, outline view, frame, dialog box, static        text, text box, list, pick list, pop-up list, pull-down list,        menu, tool bar, dock, check box, radio button, hyperlink,        browser, button, control, palette, preview panel, color wheel,        dial, slider, scroll bar, cursor, status bar, stepper, and/or        progress indicator, etc. A textual and/or graphical element can        be used for selecting, programming, adjusting, changing,        specifying, etc. an appearance, background color, background        style, border style, border thickness, foreground color, font,        font style, font size, alignment, line spacing, indent, maximum        data length, validation, query, cursor type, pointer type,        autosizing, position, and/or dimension, etc. A user interface        can include one or more audio elements such as, for example, a        volume control, pitch control, speed control, voice selector,        and/or one or more elements for controlling audio play, speed,        pause, fast forward, reverse, etc. A user interface can include        one or more video elements such as, for example, elements        controlling video play, speed, pause, fast forward, reverse,        zoom-in, zoom-out, rotate, and/or tilt, etc. A user interface        can include one or more animation elements such as, for example,        elements controlling animation play, pause, fast forward,        reverse, zoom-in, zoom-out, rotate, tilt, color, intensity,        speed, frequency, appearance, etc. A user interface can include        one or more haptic elements such as, for example, elements        utilizing tactile stimulus, force, pressure, vibration, motion,        displacement, temperature, etc.    -   utilize—to use and/or put into service.    -   via—by way of and/or utilizing.    -   vibrate—to move back and forth or to and fro, especially        rhythmically and/or rapidly.    -   vibrotactile—of, pertaining to, or using vibrotaction.    -   vibrotaction—the response of human sensory organs (e.g.        mechanorecptors) to varying forces on the skin and/or to        oscillatory motion of the skin.    -   wear—to don, carry, and/or have on the person as covering,        adornment, and/or protection.    -   weight—a value indicative of importance.    -   wherein—in regard to which; and; and/or in addition to.    -   with—accompanied by.    -   within—inside the limits of.        Note

Various substantially and specifically practical and useful exemplaryembodiments of the claimed subject matter are described herein,textually and/or graphically, including the best mode, if any, known tothe inventor(s), for implementing the claimed subject matter by personshaving ordinary skill in the art. Any of numerous possible variations(e.g., modifications, augmentations, embellishments, refinements, and/orenhancements, etc.), details (e.g., species, aspects, nuances, and/orelaborations, etc.), and/or equivalents (e.g., substitutions,replacements, combinations, and/or alternatives, etc.) of one or moreembodiments described herein might become apparent upon reading thisdocument to a person having ordinary skill in the art, relying uponhis/her expertise and/or knowledge of the entirety of the art andwithout exercising undue experimentation. The inventor(s) expectsskilled artisans to implement such variations, details, and/orequivalents as appropriate, and the inventor(s) therefore intends forthe claimed subject matter to be practiced other than as specificallydescribed herein. Accordingly, as permitted by law, the claimed subjectmatter includes and covers all variations, details, and equivalents ofthat claimed subject matter. Moreover, as permitted by law, everycombination of the herein described characteristics, functions,activities, substances, and/or structural elements, and all possiblevariations, details, and equivalents thereof, is encompassed by theclaimed subject matter unless otherwise clearly indicated herein,clearly and specifically disclaimed, or otherwise clearly contradictedby context.

The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”)provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate one or moreembodiments and does not pose a limitation on the scope of any claimedsubject matter unless otherwise stated. No language herein should beconstrued as indicating any non-claimed subject matter as essential tothe practice of the claimed subject matter.

Thus, regardless of the content of any portion (e.g., title, field,background, summary, description, abstract, drawing figure, etc.) ofthis document, unless clearly specified to the contrary, such as viaexplicit definition, assertion, or argument, or clearly contradicted bycontext, with respect to any claim, whether of this document and/or anyclaim of any document claiming priority hereto, and whether originallypresented or otherwise:

-   -   there is no requirement for the inclusion of any particular        described characteristic, function, activity, substance, or        structural element, for any particular sequence of activities,        for any particular combination of substances, or for any        particular interrelationship of elements;    -   no described characteristic, function, activity, substance, or        structural element is “essential”;    -   any two or more described substances can be mixed, combined,        reacted, separated, and/or segregated;    -   any described characteristics, functions, activities,        substances, and/or structural elements can be integrated,        segregated, and/or duplicated;    -   any described activity can be performed manually,        semi-automatically, and/or automatically;    -   any described activity can be repeated, any activity can be        performed by multiple entities, and/or any activity can be        performed in multiple jurisdictions; and    -   any described characteristic, function, activity, substance,        and/or structural element can be specifically excluded, the        sequence of activities can vary, and/or the interrelationship of        structural elements can vary.

The use of the terms “a”, “an”, “said”, “the”, and/or similar referentsin the context of describing various embodiments (especially in thecontext of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both thesingular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearlycontradicted by context.

The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are tobe construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but notlimited to,”) unless otherwise noted.

When any number or range is described herein, unless clearly statedotherwise, that number or range is approximate. Recitation of ranges ofvalues herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method ofreferring individually to each separate value falling within the range,unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value and eachseparate subrange defined by such separate values is incorporated intothe specification as if it were individually recited herein. Forexample, if a range of 1 to 10 is described, that range includes allvalues therebetween, such as for example, 1.1, 2.5, 3.335, 5, 6.179,8.9999, etc., and includes all subranges therebetween, such as forexample, 1 to 3.65, 2.8 to 8.14, 1.93 to 9, etc.

When any phrase (i.e., one or more words) appearing in a claim isfollowed by a drawing element number, that drawing element number isexemplary and non-limiting on claim scope.

No claim of this document is intended to invoke paragraph six of 35 USC112 unless the precise phrase “means for” is followed by a gerund.

Any information in any material (e.g., a United States patent, UnitedStates patent application, book, article, etc.) that has beenincorporated by reference herein, is incorporated by reference herein inits entirety to its fullest enabling extent permitted by law yet only tothe extent that no conflict exists between such information and theother statements and drawings set forth herein. In the event of suchconflict, including a conflict that would render invalid any claimherein or seeking priority hereto, then any such conflicting informationin such material is specifically not incorporated by reference herein.

Within this document, and during prosecution of any patent applicationrelated hereto, any reference to any claimed subject matter is intendedto reference the precise language of the then-pending claimed subjectmatter at that particular point in time only.

Accordingly, every portion (e.g., title, field, background, summary,description, abstract, drawing figure, etc.) of this document, otherthan the claims themselves and any provided definitions of the phrasesused therein, is to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not asrestrictive. The scope of subject matter protected by any claim of anypatent that issues based on this document is defined and limited only bythe precise language of that claim (and all legal equivalents thereof)and any provided definition of any phrase used in that claim, asinformed by the context of this document.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: tracking movement of agloved hand of a human relative to a predetermined reference point, thegloved hand wearing a protective glove comprising: a plurality oflayers, the plurality of layers comprising a pressure layer that definesa hand side and an opposing distal side, wherein, when in operation, agas that is disposed on the hand side of the pressure layer ismaintained at a gas pressure that creates a predetermined pressuredifferential with respect to an ambient pressure exerted on the distalside, the pressure differential sufficient to substantially stiffen thepressure layer; and a sensory output transducer operatively locatedadjacent to, and mechanically coupled to, the distal side of thepressure layer; automatically interpreting an actual gloved fingermovement of the human relative to the gloved hand as a predeterminedfinger movement for operating an input device communicatively coupled toan information device, the interpreting of the actual gloved fingermovement distinct from the tracking of the movement of the gloved hand;and in response to interpreting the actual gloved finger movement, viathe sensory output transducer and across the substantially stiffenedpressure layer, automatically providing feedback to the human.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the feedback thoughthe pressure layer of the protective glove to skin of the human.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: rendering a movement of a cursoron a display, the movement corresponding to the predetermined fingermovement.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: rendering acharacter on a display, the character corresponding to the predeterminedfinger movement.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providingthe human with a haptic sensation of a position of the gloved hand on akeyboard.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing thehuman with a haptic sensation of striking a key on a keyboard.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: providing the human with a hapticsensation of pressing a button on a computer mouse.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: via a haptic sensation, providing the humanwith an alert.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein: the feedback isprovided to at least one finger of the human.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein: the protective glove is comprised by a space suit.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: the input device is a pointing device. 12.The method of claim 1, wherein: the input device is a charactergenerator.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein: the sensory outputtransducer is a vibrotactile actuator.
 14. A system comprising: a handmovement tracking circuit operatively configured to track movement of agloved hand of a human relative to a predetermined reference point, thegloved hand wearing a protective glove comprising: a plurality oflayers, the plurality of layers comprising a pressure layer that definesa hand side and an opposing distal side, wherein, when in operation, agas that is disposed on the hand side of the pressure layer ismaintained at a gas pressure that creates a predetermined pressuredifferential with respect to an ambient pressure exerted on the distalside, the pressure differential sufficient to substantially stiffen thepressure layer; and a sensory output transducer configured to beoperatively located adjacent to, and mechanically coupled to, the distalside of the pressure layer; a finger movement interpretation circuitoperatively configured to interpret an actual gloved finger movement ofthe human relative to the gloved hand as a predetermined finger movementfor operating an input device communicatively coupled to an informationdevice, the finger movement interpretation circuit distinct from thehand movement tracking circuit; and a sensory feedback circuitoperatively configured to, in response to interpreting the actual glovedfinger movement, via the sensory output transducer and across thesubstantially stiffened pressure layer, provide feedback to the human.15. The system of claim 14, wherein: the protective glove is a componentof a protective suit.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein: theprotective glove is a component of a space suit.
 17. The system of claim14, wherein: the sensory output transducer is a tactile sensory outputtransducer.
 18. The system of claim 14, wherein: the sensory outputtransducer is a tactile actuator.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein:the sensory output transducer is a vibrotactile actuator.
 20. The systemof claim 14, wherein: the sensory output transducer is a vibrationalactuator mounted on or adjacent to the pressure layer of the protectiveglove.
 21. The system of claim 14, wherein: the sensory outputtransducer is a vibrational actuator mounted in a position operativelyconfigured to be adjacent to a finger of the protective glove.
 22. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein: the sensory output transducer isoperatively configured to provide tactile feedback regarding one or morecontrol inputs received by the information system.
 23. The system ofclaim 14, wherein: the sensory output transducer is operativelyconfigured to not interfere with use of the protective glove by thehuman for grasping or manipulating.
 24. The system of claim 14, wherein:the sensory output transducer is a resonant actuator comprising at leastone of an electromagnetic actuator, a piezoelectric actuator, and anelectro-active polymer.
 25. The system of claim 14, wherein: vibrationsinduced by the sensory output transducer are transported by the pressurelayer of the protective glove to skin of the human and provide tactilefeedback to the human of one or more control inputs to the informationdevice.
 26. The system of claim 14, wherein: the hand movement trackingcircuit comprises at least one of an optical tracker, a magnetictracker, a radio-frequency tracker, and an acoustic tracker.
 27. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein: the finger movement interpretation circuitcomprises at least one finger motion sensing transducer comprising atleast one of a finger flexion sensor, an accelerometer, a magnetic fieldsensor, an optical sensor, and an electromyography sensor.
 28. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein: the system is operatively configured torender, on a display communicatively coupled to the information device,at least one of a cursor movement event, a cursor placement event, aclicking event, a dragging event, a scrolling event, a selecting event,and a keying event.
 29. The system of claim 14, further comprising: atleast one tracking target integrated into the protective glove, the atleast one tracking target comprising at least one of a light emitter, amagnet, a radio-frequency coil, and a sound emitter.
 30. The system ofclaim 14, wherein: the system is operatively configured to interpret achange in a position of the gloved hand, and/or a position of one ormore fingers of the gloved hand, as corresponding to one or morepredetermined key strikes.
 31. The system of claim 14, wherein: thesystem is operatively configured to provide the human with a hapticsensation that the gloved hand of the human is utilizing the inputdevice.
 32. The system of claim 14, wherein: the system is operativelyconfigured to provide the human with a haptic sensation substantiallyindicating that the gloved hand of the human is utilizing a keyboard.33. The system of claim 14, wherein: the system is operativelyconfigured to provide the human with a haptic sensation substantiallyindicating that the gloved hand of the human is utilizing a computermouse.
 34. A system comprising: a protective glove for a hand of ahuman, the protective glove comprising: a plurality of layers, each ofthe plurality of layers operatively configured to substantially surroundthe hand, the plurality of layers comprising a pressure layer thatdefines a hand side and an opposing distal side, wherein, when inoperation, a gas that is disposed on the hand side of the pressure layeris maintained at a gas pressure that creates a predetermined pressuredifferential with respect to an ambient pressure exerted on the distalside, the pressure differential sufficient to substantially stiffen thepressure layer; and a sensory output transducer configured to beoperatively located adjacent to, and mechanically coupled to, the distalside of the pressure layer; and a sensory feedback circuit operativelyconfigured to provide tactile feedback through the substantiallystiffened pressure layer to the hand of the human, the tactile feedbackoperatively configured to simulate a control input received by and foran information system communicatively coupled to the protective glove.